For Keeps
by InuLvr7
Summary: Sarah's been out of the Labyrinth for 6 months, and her seemingly instant maturity hasn't gone unnoticed. When Jareth shows up, seeking to understand how she beat him, things progress down a path neither could have anticipated. JS
1. Chapter 1

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**For Keeps**  
By: InuLvr7

Sarah's been out of the Labyrinth for 6 months, and her seemingly instant maturity hasn't gone unnoticed. When Jareth shows up, seeking to understand how she beat him, things progress down a path neither could have anticipated. JS

Disclaimer: Not mine. I own some perfume, a tooth brush, and some make up.  
**All Standard Disclaimers Apply**

Chapter One:

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"Honestly, Stephen, I couldn't even begin to know how to answer that question," the ever spunky brunette replied with a dramatic hair toss. The young man with blonde hair and hazel eyes sitting in the driver's seat next to her laughed before sombering up again. He looked at her with his eyes hardened. 

"Sarah," he said, "I'm serious. You've acted differently since school started; you're a lot different than you were before we became friends. I want to know: _are_ you seeing somebody?" Sarah sighed in the passenger's seat next to him. She did not want to end her Friday in an argument with Stephen.

"What would you care, Stephen?" she said, closing her eyes momentarily. Stephen's jaw clenched.

"I'm your friend. Doesn't that give me enough of a prerogative?" he asked bitterly. Sarah set her jaw firmly.

"No. It doesn't," she said as they pulled into the driveway of her house. "Thanks for the ride, Stephen. If I am seeing somebody, that's my love life, and my love life is my business." She stepped out of the car, hoisting a heavy backpack on and leaving a bewildered junior staring after her. Stephen had become her friend as they had to rehearse together for the upcoming production of Grease. She had landed Sandy's role two months after she solved the Labyrinth, and he had luckily snagged Danny's role. Personally, she would have preferred Gentlemen Prefer Blondes or Moulin Rouge, but whatever. Sarah strode into her house and locked the door behind her. "I'm home!" she shouted as she kicked her shoes off by the door.

"Sarah," Irene said, not bothering to hide the surprise in her voice as she came down the stairs in a towel, "you're home early."

"Well, I know you and Dad wanted to go out tonight, and rehearsals were only until four thirty today," Sarah replied as she walked up to meet her on the stairs. Irene looked at the clock by the front door.

"It's only four forty- five. Did Stephen give you a ride home again?" Irene questioned with a wiggle of her eyebrows. Sarah passed by her without blinking an eye.

"Yes, and he was very rude," she replied as she reached her room.

"Did he make a pass at you?" Her father suddenly poked his head outside of the master bedroom door.

"No," Sarah said firmly as she shook her head. "And I do not want to talk about this any further," she added as she entered her room, closing the door behind her. Sarah set her backpack down by her bed and sat down in front of her vanity. She took out her brush and set to work on her long, lustrous locks of nearly espresso colored hair. Sarah had changed this past summer, enough that guys had really started noticing her. With her new maturity, Irene had decided that Sarah deserved some "womanly" pampering. So they had gone off to the salon and had Sarah's eyebrows waxed and purchased enough make up for Sarah to be the picture of perfection for the next two years. After she had finished perfecting her hair, she sighed and applied the light pink lip gloss.

She hadn't realized it until this past week, but her make up was styled the exact same way it had been for Jareth's masquerade in the Crystal Ballroom. She took out her homework with a heavy sigh and set to work. After about an hour, she realized that she had only done nine problems. Everytime she started on one, her mind would wander to a certain man with mismatched eyes.

"Honey!" her dad called. "We're leaving. Toby's asleep for the night! Make sure you wake him up at nine and give him his medicine!"

"Will do!" she called down. She heard the door shut and their car start through the open window in her room. She turned back to the incomplete work in front of her. "Why is it that once I'm alone, my thoughts can only linger on one person?" she questioned herself aloud as she glanced at her watch. It was a little after six, so she had three hours until she had to give Toby his medicine. He was out cold on... well, cold medicine...

"I ask myself the same question."

Sarah whipped around in her seat to face the man who constantly flitted about in her thoughts. "Jareth," she said. The astonishment that racked through her body was evident in her voice.

"Sarah, don't be afraid," he said carefully, staying where he was in front of the open window. He was dressed in clothes similar to the ones he had worn when he had first appeared in her home, except that the clothes he had on now were not adorned with crimson, but, instead, midnight blue.

"Do I look afraid?" she said, closing her eyes for a second before answering, much as she had when she had asked how he had been generous in the labyrinth. Jareth smiled wryly.

"I suppose not," he said before starting to walk towards her. "I want to understand you, Sarah."

Sarah looked at him in bewilderment. "You want to what?" she sputtered as she stood up, knocking over the chair she had been sitting in. He stood now before her, his eyes raking apprecciatively over her body. Not much had changed about her in the six months she had been back, except that she now wore clothes to accentuate her curvy figure. And she had gone up a cup size, or two. To Sarah, that didn't count, but to all of the guys, King of the Goblins included, it did. Jareth obviously noticed and liked the change.

"I want to understand you, Sarah," he repeated.

"Why?" she asked, incredulous to whatever his motivation was. She knew he couldn't possibly have been there for Toby, and as she had said, he had no power over her.

"You do ask a lot of questions," he replied. Sarah looked up at him and, as she had been the first time, was startled to look at his face. His high cheekbones and facial structure were practically carved from living marble, and his eyes- His eyes of cerulean blue and chocolate brown were like two pools of drowning lust. She could feel herself being sucked into them. Sarah turned away, blushing.

"You haven't answered," she said, her eyes still on the floor. He raised an eyebrow before speaking in his distinctly British accent.

"I haven't decided to answer," he said offhandedly. Sarah looked back into his eyes and realized that he was possibly the most gorgeous man she had ever seen. He made Stephen seem like Toby, and he didn't frighten her anymore. Sarah stepped away from him and sat back on her bed.

"If you want to understand me, you're doing a hell of a job," she said sarcastically. Jareth looked at her incredulously.

"Sarah," he said with surprise, "how you have changed."

"People tend to do that."

He smirked and crossed his arms over his chest. "Yes, they do," he replied, almost mockingly.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she said, her temper flaring.

"That," he said with the smirk still present on his face, "is self- evident." Sarah suddenly decided she didn't like him towering over her with a smirk that promised sex or violence- or possibly both. Either way, she wasn't ready for either.

"You can sit down, you know," she said abruptly.

"Where?" he asked suspiciously. The turn in conversation was a little too fast for him, but if she asked him to sit on the floor, he'd laugh at her.

"The bed," she said, almsot as if he was stupid. He crossed over to the bed and sat down cautiously. "Much better," she said. _"Keep your friends close and your enemies closer."_

"I'll say it again, Sarah. I want to understand you," Jareth said. He stared at her with an intensity that Sarah was completely aware of.

"If you want to understand me, then it'll take a lot more than just talking tonight," she said, mimicking his fold of arms across the chest from earlier. Jareth arched an eyebrow.

"I'm not willing to go that far to understand you," he said with a slightly perverted glint in his eyes. Sarah's nose wrinkled as she understood the implication of what he and she had said.

"I did not mean it that way, Jareth," she said firmly. Her jaw clenched as she stared stubbornly at him. He looked away briefly, but when he looked back at her his gaze was predatory- piercing, haunting, but still beautiful.

"I'm sure," he smirked. "But, Sarah, what did you mean?"

"Nothing," she replied. Sarah suddenly had the idea that here in her room, an angry Goblin King would be quite funny rather than scary, as he had been in the Underground.

"I won't be defied, Sarah," Jareth said, his voice taking on that regal edge. Her eyes sparked as she recognized the steely glint in his voice.

"You already have been," she smirked.

"So what is the point in doing it again?"

"It's fun," Sarah replied. Jareth laughed at that, and Sarah shivered as she felt his laughter like a piece of hot velvet sliding down her spine. "Why don't you start trying to understand me by getting to know me," she said carefully.

"How?" Sarah sighed. It would be a long story-

"Well, my real mother was an actress, and I guess that rubbed off... Oh! And I've always been fond of fairy tales..." Jareth listened intently as Sarah told him her life story. He knew the gist of it, but hearing it from her was different. He hadn't understood why Sarah had beaten him. How could a mere mortal beat his awesome Labyrinth? Beat _him_? Listening to her, he was beginning to understand. Once she set herself to a task, she did it. She may get distracted, but that didn't stop her. She was as stubborn as he was. They both also had nasty tempers.

"And then I got the lead in Grease- which is running next weekend," she finished up. Jareth glanced at the clock on her wall and waved his hand. All the ligths in the room turned on and illuminated the darkness that had set in as the sun set.

"I think you should go give Toby his medicine now," he said. Sarah looked at the clock.

"Ten???" she gasped, jumping off the bed. Sarah took off down the hall to give Toby his medicine. Jareth stared after her. This girl was so very different from the one that had wished her younger brother away. He wondered briefly what would have happened if she hadn't remembered the right words to say to get the baby back. If, instead, she had said those three little words... Jareth shook the thoughts away. 'What if' never solved anything.

"Jareth?"

He looked up from his reverie. Sarah stood in the doorway, looking at him with concerned eyes. He hadn't even noticed her walking back...

"I think it's time I leave," he said, standing up, his regality regained in the movement. He seemed very much again Sarah's adversary of old. Sarah had the foreboding though that this was an entirely different sort of a battle. "But this is not over, Sarah. I'll be back on the morrow." And with that, the Goblin King was gone.

_"I need to start seeing some normal people."_ Sarah's breathing stilled as soon as the thought crossed her mind. She shook it off as she changed into her pajamas. She was just changing her shirt when Jareth popped back in.

"And Sarah-" Sarah yelped as he appeared right in front of her bra and flannel pajama pant- clad body. He smirked as he stared down at her. "Never mind." He disappeared again, but his laughter rang throughout the room. Sarah stood in shock as she stared where his delectable body had previously stood.

"You-" she gritted her teeth and quickly pulled the shirt down over her head. She turned off the lights and crawled underneath the covers. _"What the hell just happened?"  
__

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_

_Okay!_ There's the prologue. I'm sort of pleased, erm, whatever. I'm happy with it, I guess. Next chapter is just gonna skip off to the school's rehearsals on the Tuesday a month later. But ummm. okay. I do hate this chapter. It sucks, to me, but it got fixed. (Thank you, my lovely, lovely beta.)


	2. Chapter 2

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For Keeps  
By: InuLvr7

Sarah's been out of the Labyrinth for 6 months, and her seemingly instant maturity hasn't gone unnoticed. When Jareth shows up, seeking to understand how she beat him, things progress down a path neither could have anticipated. JS: wtf else is there that's not dumbass non-canon?

Disclaimer: I own a few notebooks and Scary Movie 4 Unrated on DVD

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Chapter Two:

_"Those summer-er niiiiiights!"_

"And cut!" the teacher called out, waving his open hand and closing it into a fist. "That was nice. We'll finish blocking the next group number tomorrow. Stephen, Sarah? Can I see you two for a moment?"

Stephen walked down to the bottom of the risers as the rest of the cast left the large auditorium. Sarah cast Stephen a sidelong glance. They hadn't really talked since their conversation on Friday. That had been four days of awkward silences. Actually, it was more like two days because she had spent the weekend talking with Jareth, but who was she to split hairs?

"I want you two to go through You're the One I Want," the white haired, older teacher said, walking over to the computer in the right wing of the stage. He clicked the mouse twice, and the opening notes of the song sounded out from the many speakers in the auditorium. Sarah quickly jumped into character as Stephen sang out the beginning notes of the song.

_"I've got chills- they're multiplyin', and I'm losin' control- 'cause the power your supplyin'- it's electrifyin'!"_ Sarah quickly acted out the stamping of her nonexistent cigarette. If she didn't know that it was Stephen singing, she would've sworn it to be John Travolta singing the scintillating lyrics at her.

_"You better shape up, cause I need a man, and my heart is set on you,"_ Sarah sang back, acting the part out with perfect ease. _"You better shape up, you better understand: to my heart I must be true. Nothing left, nothing left for me to do."_

_"You're the one that I want!"_ Stephen joined her. _"Ooh, ooh, ooh! Honey, the one that I want! Ooh, ooh, ooh! Honey, the one that I want! Ooh, ooh, ooh! The one I need! Oh, yes, indeed!"_

Sarah backed up to lead Stephen on. "_If you're filled with affection, you're too shy to convey, meditate my direction."_ Stephen dragged his hand up her thigh to her hip as she sang, _"Feel your way."_ She turned around, and he followed.

_"I better shape up 'cause you need a man-"_

_"I need a man!"_ she interjected._ "Who can keep me satisfied."_

_"I better shape up,"_ Stephen sang again, _"if I'm gonna prove!"_

_"You better prove! That my faith is justified."_

They both sang, _"Are you sure? Yes, I'm sure down deep inside!"_ Stephen and Sarah rocked back and forth, her hands on his shoulders and his hands on her hips. _"You're the one that I want! Ooh, ooh, ooh! Honey, the one that I want! Ooh, ooh, ooh! Honey, the one that I want! Ooh, ooh, ooh! The one I need! Oh, yes, indeed! You're the one that I want! Ooh, ooh..."_

When the song finally finished, both were left standing smiling and slightly breathless in the silent auditorium. The older, slightly scary looking chorus teacher/ drama director came out from the wing. "Great job. Just make sure you get enough air at the end. I'll see you tomorrow." And with that he disappeared back into the darkness of the wings.

_"That was creepy,"_ Sarah thought as she stared after him into the darkness.

"Hey, Sarah." Stephen tapped her on the shoulder. "You need a ride?"

Sarah hesitated a moment, but the pain on Stephen's face was too raw to look at. She smiled at him. "Sure, Stephen," she replied. His face instantly lit up.

"Go home," came Mr. Kowalski's growl from the wings.

"Going!" Sarah called. "Well, he's a grouch." Stephen laughed as they picked up their backpacks.

"It's part of his job description," he replied as the lights of the auditorium turned off.

"I guess that's our cue to leave," she sighed, easily making her way out of the dark auditorium by memory. Stephen followed behind her as they exited into the cool, dark air of night. Sarah glanced at her watch. "It's seven!?"

"Yeah, why? Did you have something to do tonight?" he asked. Sarah sighed as they reached his car in the near- empty parking lot. They both shoved their backpacks into the back seat.

"Stephen," she said warningly. He put up his hands as they slid into the front of his sleek silver porsche.

"Sorry, sorry," he apologized. The rogueish smirk on his face made the apology pretty null and void, but Sarah couldn't help her smile as he started up the car.

"Whatever. For your information, though, I had a hair appointment," she said. Well, it wasn't a total lie. She did have an appointment that had to do with hair... someone with teased, ultra- layered hair. Stephen backed up and left the school parking lot.

"A hair appointment?" he asked skeptically.

"Yes. I was thinking about going blonde," she replied. Stephen made a face. "What? You don't like it?"

"I think you're hot without going fake," he said. Under normal circumstances, she would have blushed, but instead, she felt that he was in some indirect way insulting Jareth.

"You're blonde," she retorted as he took a right onto her street.

"But I'm natural," he said pointedly. She couldn't say the same for Jareth...

"There's nothing wrong with being bottle blonde. I'm just saying I like you better as a brunette. Why can't you just take the compliment!" he said, glaring at her as they drove towards her house. Sarah opened her mouth to speak, but a kid on a tricycle caught her eye.

"Stephen! Look out!" Sarah shouted. Stephen swerved, causing Sarah's head to slam into the window. "Jesus." He pulled up to her house. Stephen reached for her as she opened up the door. "Don't even try, Stephen."

"Sarah-" he said hopelessly as she reached for her backpack in the back seat. His hand caught her chin, and Sarah's breathing hitched. She blinked, and his amazingly soft lips were on hers. All Sarah could do was sit there, frozen to her seat. When he pulled away, her eyes were large with a strange mix of horror and fascination. "Sarah!" he called out, but it was too late. Sarah had ran up into her house, her backpack swinging wildly from one shoulder.

Sarah ran straight up the stairs to the bathroom, not even bothering to set her backpack down or take her shoes off. She quickly began to rinse her mouth. Stephen was her friend. They kissed in the musical together, but now it would just be awkward. How could he just ruin everything like that? She gripped the cool, white sink beneath her and stared into her reflection. Her lips were pink and moist. Sarah quickly rinsed again with mouthwash. She turned the silver handle of the faucet on and stared as the water swirled down the drain.

"Sarah!" Sarah's head snapped up as Irene called her. "Is that you?"

"Yeah!" she called down, surprised that she could still speak. "Rehearsals ran late!"

"Did you eat?" Sarah dropped her backpack and clenched the sink harder, and her knuckles turned white.

"Yes!" she lied.

"Okay."

Sarah let go of the cold, white porcelain and slumped down against the open door onto the cool, blue tile floor. She brought her left knee up to her chest and rested her left elbow on her knee. She ran the propped up hand through her hair and stomped her heel down angrily. Jareth was in her room, and she was afraid. She was afraid of going into her own fucking room. That thought was enough to anger Sarah, and anger always overrides fear. Sarah stood up, grabbed her backpack, and calmly walked to her room. The white door opened just as Sarah was reaching for the handle. She was left with her fingertips grazing the white tights that covered the right thigh of a very amused Goblin King. _"No,"_ Sarah reminded herself, _"a very amused friend."_

"Was it your first?" he asked superciliously as he moved aside, his back against the door. Sarah glared at him as she pushed into the room. He moved by her vanity as she shut the door. Sarah walked up and turned him to face the window and pushed.

"Go," she said angrily. She was furious with herself! For believing he would be jealous- for- for-.

"Sarah-" Jareth said as he turned around.

"Get out!" She stood before him, quaking with fury, hands clenched into fists at her sides. Her pink lips suddenly twisted into a wry smile. "Don't defy me, Jareth." She hadn't realized it, but they were now standing exactly where they had a month ago when he had spoken those words to her.

"You have no power over me," he mocked backk to her. Jareth suddenly brought his hands to her upper arms, just below the shoulders. He held her in his crushing grip and lowered his head, his mouth a tempting inch from hers. "No one commands me, Sarah, save me."

Staring defiantly at him, Sarah brought her knee up into his crotch. He doubled over and slightly loosened his grip on her arms. "Your body says differently," she smiled down at him. He lifted his face to glare at her, but the effect was ruined by the pain's contortion of his face. Sarah dropped to her knees. "Are you all right?"

"Peachy," he hissed. "Where did you learn to knee like that?" he asked rhetorically.

"My mom made me get self defense classes, in case I got mugged or attacked or something," she replied nonchalantly. "I don't suppose there's anything I can do?" He managed to arch an eyebrow, and Sarah scowled, leaning back on her heels. The pain was subsiding, and Jareth sat down cross- legged and somehow managed to make it look both elegant and arrogant. Maybe it was the bed behind that provided a back for him...

"You don't seem to think that I would attack you, though," Jareth drawled in his distinctly Sussex accent as he watched her intently without seeming like he was doing so.

"No," Sarah said carefully, "I don't."

"Why?" he asked.

"Because you never tried anything beyond the hallucination with the peach," she replied.

"You don't count the Escher room?" He frowned. Confusion crossed Sarah's eyes. "The staired room," he clarified.

"No," Sarah said as she shook her head. She moved herself into a cross legged sit, too. "Maybe if I had on that dress-" Lo and behold, she suddenly was. Sarah looked at Jareth, who had on quite an amused expression. "Now, what did you do that for?" she asked, her voice holding a weariness that her face did not. Jareth frowned, and something clicked in Sarah's brain. "You're messing with my head!" She narrowed her eyes accusingly. She loved their banter; it was more fun than anything else she did. She had no idea that he felt the same way. Surprise, surprise.

"Now, why would you want to make such a hurtful accusation?" Jareth said with a frown that didn't quite reach his smiling eyes. Sarah rolled her eyes and got off the floor. She moved around him and to the bed.

"Do you realize that you're just like the teenage boys I go to school with?" she asked, sprawling out, backside facing down, onto her bed with the silvery dress flaring out around her. Jareth laid his head back so that it rested atop her bed.

"Sarah, what could you possibly mean by that?" the Goblin King said, smirking all the while. Sarah looked past teh curve of her breasts and the soft flatness of her stomach to glare at his pretty face.

"You know perfectly well what I mean," Sarah retorted. "Damn, I can't breathe in this thing," she muttered under her breath.

"I'm afraid I don't," he replied with a mock sincerity that nearly made her lose her temper.

"I- I'm not stupid! I know you can see-" she was sputtering.

"You're not going to let this go, are you, Sarah?" Jareth interrupted with a wave of his hand. He turned his head to face her angry glare. He enjoyed riling her up, probably more than she enjoyed provoking him.

"No. You're infuriating, and you need to be taught a lesson: people aren't toys. They're not your playthings," Jareth studied her face intently as she spoke. Sarah really had matured since the Labyrinth. She didn't cry out about how unfair her parents were or how annyoing he was being. She took it all in stride and only stopped to chide him, to chastise him. Strangely, her chiding didn't anger him but only served to amuse him. Thigns rarely served to amuse him anymore. Except for the few challengers... Even then, sometimes they were boring twits. Most of the time, actually. Jareth gave a heavy sigh and closed his eyes for a moment.

"It amuses and pleases me to see you so," he said, opening his eyes at 'see.' He looked at her lazily through half- hooded eyes, and Sarah couldn't recall his ever being more honest or at ease. He looked so... comfortable.

Well," she said, catching onto his answer of her previous question, "I'm not amused, and it doesn't please me." She frowned, and Jareth frinned wickedly.

"Frowning doesn't suit you, Sarah," he said. "Your face might stick that way." Sarah stuck her tongue out and crossed her eyes. He couldn't help but laugh, and Sarah's face brightened into a smile.

"I wish your face would be stuck that way," Sarah said impulsively as she gazed at his smiling face.

"Oh?" He arched an eyebrow. Sarah mentally chastised herself for being such an impulsive person.

"I don't recall seeing you smile that often," she said with that gallic shurg that said everything and nothing.

"Don't lie to me, Sarah," Jareth said sharply. "I won't be taken for a fool."

Sarah sighed and laid her head back onto her pillow. _"Damn, he could always read me so well." _Sarah sighed again. "It's been a long day, Jareth." He stood at that, but Sarah caught his hand. He looked down at her, her small hand clasping his black gloved one. "I just want the company of a friend, right now. Not a Goblin King and the Labyrinth Champion, and not a Fae with a mortal. Just a friend."

"You think of me as a friend?"

Sarah thought about it for a moment before nodding. "God knows why, but I do." Jareth inclined his head.

"Then, I'll stay." He reclined onto the bed at her feet, and Sarah was suddenly back into her pair of dark blue low rise jeans and emerald green spaghetti strap tank top. Sarah closed her eyes, just feeling content that he was there. It was strange; he had intimidated her before, frightened, even. Now, now his simple presence was soothing to the nerves that Stephen's kiss had frazzled. Sarah turned on to her side, her left hip thrust towards the celing. She didn't want to break the complacent silence that had fallen between them, but her desire to hear his voice was overpowering her desire for silence.

"Jareth," she said, a light smile slightly curling her lips, "would you sing for me?"

"Not now. Maybe when your parents are gone," he replied, closing his eyes as well.

"But that's not until Friday," she pouted.

"I know," he replied. "But three days isn't very long at all."

"Easy for you to say. You're immortal," she mumbled. Jareth smirked.

"It's no one's fault but your own that you turned down your dreams and aren't immortal."

"So that you wouldn't turn my brother into a goblin!" Sarah retorted with an exasperated sigh.

"Such a pity, then. I wasn't going to turn him into a goblin," Jareth said, smirking as he did so: he knew what her reaction would be to that.

"You weren't?!" she said, coughing on her spit.

"Of course not," he drawled. Jareth moved up so that his head was by her stomach. He propped himself up on his elbows. "Why would I want a bunch of screaming goblin babes? As if the idiots I have weren't enough."

"Well, what happens to them?" she demanded, moving over so that he could move up.

"They go to the care of the few humans who live in the Underground." he casually replied while taking her silent offer and resting his head on a pillow next to hers. The red silken comforter was soft against his skin, and the sudden proximity they found themselves in created an aching awareness in the both of them. Sarah found herself suddenly afraid, though. She and Jareth had only just become friends- what if he ruined it like Stephen?

"What did you mean 'Such a pity'?" Sarah demanded, her voice breathy in what she recently realized was a very dark room. It had to be at least eight o'clock. Jareth grinned at her as he turned onto his side.

"I meant exactly what I said," he answered honestly. Sarah felt her breathing catch. He was going to ruin it all, too, and she would let him. She would let him, and that scared her more than anything. She frowned. "It's such a pity you turned down you dreams for nothing," he clarified. Sarah's mouth formed a small 'o' as her eyes widened. Disappointment crept into those pools of sea green, but she quickly mentally chastised herself. What had she been expecting? That he'd tell her that it was such a pity that he couldn't make her his bride? She had more important things to worry about- like what had happened between Stephen and herself. Sarah shook her head as Jareth watched her intently. "What are you thinking about, Sarah?"

"How embarassing school's going to be tomorrow," she sighed. "And if he didn't tell anyone, then rehearsals are still going to be really awkward." Confusion crossed Jareth's mismatched eyes before recognition struck home. His face quickly lit up.

"So that creature was Stephen..." he mused. "How fascinating..." He tapped his chin thoughtfully, and Sarah's eyes narrowed.

"What are you thinking?"

"That I'm a much more handsome specimen," he replied with a smirk. Sarah rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, with the dandy help of cosmetics," she snorted. Jareth looked apalled.

"Make up? You think I wear make up?" he hissed. "These markings are only bestowed upon the Fae nobility. They're signs of elegance and status." That got a laugh from Sarah.

"I highly doubt there's a large amount of elegance required in being King of the Goblins," Sarah replied with a smirk. Jareth anrrowed his eyes.

"On the contrary, it requires more. But what would you know of elegance, little girl?" he jeered. Sarah's lips quivered into a frown.

"Enough to be able to dance properly in a corset, dress, and heels that I'd never worn before," she retorted.

"That's only because I was leading you," he said, clearly exasperated.

"Oh, well, I'm sorry it was such a chore!" she said, getting defensive. In the back of Sarah's mind, she knew she was getting defensive because of some amount of feeling she held for Jareth. And what he had just said hurt.

"What?!"

"You know what! And do you know how long that song was stuck in me head?! Two weeks!"

"Why the hell are you shouting!?!" he shouted. Sarah's lower lips quivered, and the stress that had been building up in her all day released itself.

"Because- because Stephen ruined everything! He was my bestfriend, and now everything got ruined. I lost my first bestfriend because he- because he decided to have ridiculous feelings for me!" she spouted, tears spilling from her light emerald eyes. Jareth's thumb tenderly wiped the tears away, and he let his knuckles linger on her cheek.

"No one chooses to have feelings for you, Sarah," he replied softly. "We never know where we will find love," Sarah looked into his mismatched eyes and was surprised to find some affectionate emotion. Maybe it was the softness in his eyes, or maybe it was the way his bare hand felt on her cheek. It didn't even occur to Sarah to wonder about when he'd taken his gloves off. It just seemed so natural.

"Would you just hold me?"

Jareth had a moment where he wanted to laugh and tell her to suck it up, but he didn't. He wrapped his arms around her with a sigh and drew her close. The gloves were once again back on. Jareth had no idea why the hell he had taken them off for that moment. He stroked her long, smooth hair tenderly with one black leather gloved hand and held her against hime with the other. She trembled in his arms and buried her face in the ruffled lace that spilled out of the chest of his white 1700s shirt.

"Why can't we ever have a normal conversation?" he whispered softly, his lips brushing against her ear.

"Because we're not normal," she replied, her voice muffled against his shirt.

"Come now, Sarah. Be honest. You're the one who's not normal," he said, burying his face in her dark locks. She laughed, and he inhaled deeply. Jareth had no idea why he was acting so foolishly, but he was betting it had something to do with how soft her body was against his. Her scent intoxicated him; she smelled of cocoa and a sweet something eles. he craned his neck so that his face was buried in the crook of her neck. His hot breath sent shivers down her spine that had nothing to do with the cold. Vanilla. It lingered on her skin and filled his nostrils with its sugary sweetness.

"You're the odd one. At least, I'm human," she replied, turning her head so that her cheek lay against the cool, stiff white ruffles of his shirt. They had always seemed so soft before; well, seeming isn't being. Jareth smiled.

"Well, there's that," he said. Sarah suddenly froze as she caught sight of her handle turning over Jareth's shoulder.

"Sarah-" Irene began.

"Shit."

* * *

This is my first Labyrinth fic. I love it. I've only recently become a Labyrinth fan, and I wish I had known about it before. Now, I'm obsessed with it. And David Bowie. That sexy beast. Yeah. Okay. It's weird of me to say that since I'm so young but whatever. 


	3. Chapter 3

Okay. Ch3. Exciting- I know. Anyway- I'm sorry in advance. If you didn't read this and are surprised- well, sucks for you.

Anyway- I've been writing this the whole fucking break. Why? Because I'm an obsessive fan girl. And that's just what obsessive fan girls do- they ignore everything else but their writing.

IMPORTANT!!!! I recently found out that her stepmother's name is actually Irene. So I went back and changed that. Don't be confused my ducklings!

* * *

**For Keeps**

Sarah's been out of the Labyrinth for 6 months, and her seemingly instant maturity hasn't gone unnoticed. When Jareth shows up, seeking to understand how she beat him, things progress down a path neither could have anticipated. JS

Chapter Three:

* * *

Irene opened the door just after Jareth disappeared. "Peter just called. You've got an audition at nine tomorrow," she said, looking around the room. "Were you asleep?" Sarah blinked at the light that flooded her room through the doorway. "I'll take that as a yes. Be ready to go by seven." And she shut the door. 

"Who's Peter?" he asked, materializing back on the bed in his previous position, which placed him on top of Sarah's arm.

"Why?" she asked. "Jealous?" He scoffed but felt in the deepest part of him that it was true. Sarah shook her head. "He's my agent."

"Oh," he replied. Sarah rolled her eyes.

"You don't know what an agent is, do you?" He shook his head. "Well, it's nothing to worry about."

Jareth glanced uneasily at the door. That was far too close. He let out a heavy sigh. "Sarah, I think it's best I leave now." Sarah followed his glance to the door and looked back at him. She nodded.

"Yeah, I guess," she said, trying not to sound put out and failing miserably. He cupped his hand on either side of her face.

"Tomorrow." And he lowered his lips to place a tender kiss on her forhead. Jareth faded out, and Sarah could still feel his kiss lingering. She suddenly thought of the lyrics from that on Cranberry song. _"Do you have to? Do you have to let it linger?"_ Sarah smiled as the words crossed her mind, and she suddenly felt very giddy. She clutched the comforter tighter around her and let sleep claim her. "Linger" still played out in her head as she drifted off to sleep.

* * *

_"Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. OhmyGod. OhmyGod. Ohmahgawd. Ohmahgawd. Ohmahgawdomahgawdomahgawdomahgawd," _Sarah's mental mantra ran together as she paced outside of the auditioning room. She always got this way at auditions. Well, that's not true. She only got this way at auditions when she first started out five months ago. Now, it was only at instant call backs that she got this way- which brought her to her current dilemna. She had no more finished the read- through when the producer asked her to stay after. 

She probably should care about how Irene was fraternizing with Winona Ryder, who sat against the wall next to Irene, but she didn't. Sarah leaned back against the wall by the audition room's door and breathed a heavy sigh. She wasn't really worried about the audition. In fact, she was pretty sure Wynona would get it. What she was worried about was Jareth. True, she'd practically been obsessed with him before she even knew he truly existed. Now that she knew him, it wasn't better. It was worse. Jareth was such a mystery to her. She never knew if he was being what she wanted him to be or himself. Or- perish the thought- if his self was what she wanted. It was all so confusing. The door next to her opened and a blonde man with black shades to hide his cool grey eyes looked at the empty chairs.

"Where's Sarah?" he asked. He was about Sarah's height but a good ten years older. Yup, he was Peter.

"Right here," she said as she came away from the wall. He turned to her and ruffled her hair. That was one of his nervous habits, and Sarah was suddenly on guard. What had put the usually laid back Peter on edge? "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, kid," he replied, "except that you're going to have to sign away the rest of your Junior year- that includes prom." Peter was a greedy SOB, but he loved Sarah like a sister. She had first caught his interest when he saw the polaroid of her that Irene sent in. The wistful look in her espressive eyes, like real love come and gone, was not something you found in most people, much less a teenager.

"What do you mean?" Sarah demanded. "That is- I mean, I got the role?"

"Yeah," he laughed bitterly. "But there's a catch- you just got enrolled in gymnastics boot camp."

"Wait-" Sarah said. "I think I need some time to think this over, Peter."

"They've given us until tomorrow. If we don't know by then, Ms. Ryder's got the job," he said, giving a nod to Winona.

"Well, I think that's my cue to go," Winona smiled as she grabbed her Coach purse and got up. She waved as she walked off. "Nice to see you again, Peter."

"You, too," he smiled. As soon as she left he dropped the smile. "You don't have to sign, kid." Sarah sighed.

"Tell them I need to sleep on it, and we'll have a decision by the morning," she replied. Irene got up.

"Let us look over the contract at least," she said. Sarah hadn't noticed the white stack of papers in his hand. Peter nodded.

"Let's go to a Starbucks." Sarah nodded and after saying goodbyes to the producers and casting advisors, they were gone to look it over.

* * *

"So let me get this straight. You beat Winona freaking Ryder for a part in some movie starring alongside either Johnny Depp or Tom Cruise?" 

"Yep," Sarah nodded. Stephen ran a hand through his blonde hair but quickly returned it to the wheel of his car.

"Jesus, Sarah. No wonder you freaked. You like older men," Stephen laughed. Sarah blushed as they turned onto her street.

"It's not like that, Stephen. And don't make me revoke my forgiveness. I will," she threatened. The threat was kind of ruined by her blush.

"Sorry, sorry," he said, his tone apologetic while his eyes smiled. The pulled up in front of her house, and Sarah gathered her belongings.

"Riiight," Sarah said, obviously not believing him. "Don't touch me this time." Stephen amde an exasperated sound.

"I apologized at least a thousand times, Sarah!" She opened the door.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Stephen," she said. She shut the door with finality and forced herself to walk, not run, into the house.

* * *

"Sarah?" Sarah looked up from where she sat at the vanity, doing her schoolwork, and her face lit up with a smile. 

"Jareth!" she said, practically jumping up. Jareth duly noted the half eaten Snickers bar and nearly empty cup of coffee on her desk. She gave him a hug, and Jareth realized suddenly that this was the first time Sarah had willingly made physical contact first with him. He hugged her back, and Sarah silently wished that she wouldn't have any other random touchy- feely moments caused by her caffeine and sugar high.

"So, how was your audition?" he said, releasing her to recline back onto her bed. Sarah knew she should be bothered that he just poofed in and acted like he owned the place, but she just couldn't make the emotion come up. Instead, she just felt rather content to watch him on her bed from the safety of her vanity- where she was too far to act on her feelings and join him on her bed.

"Well, enough. The part's mine if I want to say good bye to the rest of my free time. I don't know, though. I mean, I'd have to go to a gymnastics boot camp or whatever for the part," she sighed. Jareth hid well his confusion as to what the hell gymnastics was, but Sarah could now read him better than that. Sometimes. "Gymnastics is a sport wher you have to do flips and things on the floor and off of bars and stuff." Jareth's eyes widened. Flips off of bars? Wasn't that dangerous? Shouldn't Sarah be doing something a tad safer? Like a plastic bubble?

"That's..." he searched for the word, "fascinating." Sarah felt kind of hurt at that.

"Don't sound too overzealous," she said sarcastically, turning back to her work.She didn't even realize he was off the bed, much less beside her, until his long fingers found their way underneath her chin. He turned her head to face him and tilted her face up.

"I'm sorry, Sarah. It's just that things have gotten rather stressful in the Underground," he apologized,which was most unusual for him. He didn't really apologize to anyone, except to mock them.

"Oh!" Sarah suddenly had a thought and was ashamed that she hadn't thought it earlier. "How is Hoggle? And Ludo? And Sir Didymus?" Jareth went very still, and Sarah could feel the tension radiating off him like a beating pulse, tangible in her mouth.

"Sarah, you had to know what would happen to them," he began carefully. He was usually cautious around her, but even Sarah, who was usually not the most observant person in the world, noticed the change. She cautiously stood and moved by the bed.

"Jareth," she said slowly, fear skirting along her words like a looming shadow. "What have you done?"

"They had to be punished, Sarah. They committed treason. Hoggle was the first, in the tunnels," Jareth said, mildly surprised that Sarah hadn't figured this out sooner. _"Honestly. Hasn't she noticed that they haven't talked to her since that night..."_

"Jareth," she repeated, "what have you _done?"_ The Goblin King sighed.

"They're in the oubliette," he replied.

"How long?" she asked, not missing a beat as horror crept into her eyes.

"Since when last you spoke." Jareth watched her intently for any sign that he should be ready to block projectiles, but Sarah gave none. Instead, a pain crept into her eyes, giving the sea foam green a slight blue tint. She fell to her knees on the floor and leaned forward, her long, glossy locks hiding her face as she balled her hands up in fists on the floor. She stayed that way for a minute, and when it appeared she would stay that way, Jareth grew concerned. He was about to speak when her voice cut the air like an angry electric current.

"Get out." Her voice was choked from the tears she was fighting. She was losing the battle. Jareth reached for her, but stopped when she moved.

"Sarah-" She snapped her head up so that he could see her face, the tears that threated to spill from her eyes.

"Get. The. Fuck. OUT." She was so angry, she was trembling. She looked back down. "And don't come back until they're free."

Jareth pulled back his hand. Energy was pouring off her like a tangible force. He could feel it caress his skin like the touch of a lover-warm and hot at the same time. He couldn't just take them out of the oubliette. They had to pay, but he couldn't just tell Sarah no. He sighed, and the sound surprised Sarah. It was the sigh of someone filled with pain and heartbreak. When Sarah looked back up, he was gone.

Suddenly, Sarah didn't want him gone. She didn't know exactly when Jareth had moved from arch nemesis to dear friend, but he had. And now she missed him.Tears fell freely down her cheeks,and she pulled herself up onto her bed, where she sobbed into her pillow. "Why? Why so stupid, Jareth? Why would you do something so stupid. I need you. I don't how or why, but I need you, Jareth."

* * *

Jareth could hear Sarah's voice in his head as he paced about in his halls. _"Get. The. Fuck. OUT."_ She was so angry. So terribly angry. He didn't know that she had such power, such energy. Maybe that was what had drawn him to her, even before she had thought about wishing Toby away. 

But what to do about this dilemna. He couldn't stop seeing Sarah. He refused to. She was the key to something; he didn't know what, but he knew she was important. She had beaten him after all...What could he do?

He stalked through the surprisingly silent castle, pondering his dilemna. He had to understand Sarah. He had to, but he also could not grant Hoggle, Ludo, and Sir Didymus amnesty. They had committed treason and lied to the Goblin King, their liege. That alone would have been sufficient for death, except that creatures in the Labyrinth wouldn't die of natural means. It was part of the Labyrinth's power. So Jareth had put them in the oubliette. His exact words has been, _"If you find the oubliette such an amiable place for friends, then perhaps you wouldn't mind spending eternity in there."_

Jareth shook his head as he finished his third stalk- through. All the goblins had found their long lost common sense and had wisely decided it was best for their physical well being to stay away from His Majesty. Of course, Jareth didn't care that his power was causing a windy storm behind him, resulting in the tearing of tapestries and random flying about of books and candelabras. All that mattered was what the hell he was supposed to do about his situation with Sarah. If only her principles weren't so prominent in her life. He briefly entertained the thought of stripping her of those principles, among other things, but quickly squelched the thought.

It wasn't until the moon was high in the sky, that point which heralds midnight, that Jareth decided to set Sir Didymus free. Sarah was worth it. Whatever secret she held was worth it.Well, at least Sir Didymus was worth freeing. Maybe that large hairy creature... But Jareth was entirely opposed to setting Hoggle free. Why? Among other things, Sarah had kissed him. That impish, ugly, little scab. Jareth plucked a crystal from the air and threw it up. When it crashed down, Didymus appeared laying on the ground in a muss of glitter.

Jareth resisted the urge to run away and vomit. The little squirrel- fox creature thing was an absolute atrocity. His fur was matted and limp with mud and sweat, and the body odor, which was worse than the Bog of Eternal Stench, was enough to make one want to rip off their own nose. Perhaps that's what Michael Jackson smelled... Even Jareth felt pity for the small knight. It hadn't been the knight's fault that he was the perfect embodiment of chivalry. It was, after all, in the knight's oath to help a maiden to the best of his abilities. Jareth would have to see to the removal of that line in a knight's vows...

"Your Majesty," Didymus said. His voice was a hoarse croak that strongly reminded Jareth of sandpaper.

"Sir Didymus, you are being granted amnesty for your traitorous actions on the counts of chivalry," Jareth said, crouching down to the knight's height. He struggled to get to his two feet but couldn't even manage to sit up. Seven months of no food, no drink, no exercise, and no light will do that to you. "Stop. Be at rest, Didymus." When Didymus looked up at him, and Jareth saw how his left eye was crinkled, like a raisin, that was the last straw. Yes, he was a harsh ruler, but he wasn't a monster. He pulled another crystal and tossed it at him; when it burst, Didymus was cleaned up and back to health. The knight blinked four times before realizing the change. He nimbly stood up and gave a bow.

"Thou art a most just ruler, Majesty. What about my brother in arms, Sir Ludo? Who helped because Sarah freed him from a most unjust torment?" he asked. Jareth wanted to yell at him to never say he was just. After seeing what had happened to the poor knight, he knew he didn't have it in him to keep Ludo down there, too.

"So it will be as you ask, Sir Didymus." With a wave of his hand Didymus was with a now healthy Ludo in the Bog of Eternal Stench. He couldn't bear to have him ask him to free Hoggle. He couldn't free the drawf. Hoggle had done something he would not forgive. He had gotten a kiss from Sarah. Jareth nearly well choked on his own spit as the realization hit him. He was jealous of that hideous little creature. _"Why would I be jealous that he received a kiss from Sarah?"_ he thought. But Jareth already knew the answer; he only had to ask himself the right questions.

* * *

"Irene!" Sarah yelled down the stairs. 

"What, Sarah?!"

"Call Peter. I don't think I'll be needing my free time anytime soon- I'll do the movie and the gymnastics camp." There was a moment of silence and then the sound of footsteps on the stairs. Sarah only had a split second to hide her tear stained face under the covers.

"Are you sure, Sarah?" Irene asked. Sarah nodded hard enough so that it could be seen even through the coverlet. "All right. We'll meet with them tomorrow. You know, you're going to have to do independent study, then?"

"Yeah," she said.

"If it's what you want," she shrugged and left the room. Sarah pulled the comforter back and breathed in the cool air of her room. She turned onto her side and felt a fresh wave of tears come upon her as a scent hit her nose. She grabbed the pillow beside her and clutched it close, inhaling the fresh, intoxicating scent. Jareth had such a distinct smell to him. She felt her tears spill over, and soon the cloth was wet with her salty tears.

_"Are fights in friendships supposed to be this heartbreaking?"_

* * *

Okay. I'm sorry. This was reeeeeaaaaally short. But this seemed like a good place to end the chapter. I'm getting started on the next one right away. And I'm halfway through the next chapter of Tainted...So yeah. I don't know remember where I was going with that...


	4. Chapter 4

* * *

**For Keeps**

Sarah's been out of the Labyrinth for 6 month, and her seemingly instant maturity hasn't gone unnoticed. When Jareth shows up, seeking to understand how she beat him, things progress down a path neither could have anticipated. JS

Disclaimer: I own the first volume of Return to Labyrinth manga.

Chapter Four:

* * *

"So let me get this straight," Sarah said to Peter as she signed the contract, "I'm going to spend eight am to six pm doing gymnastics for the next six weeks?" Peter's eyes looked grim. They really didn't match the cozy little corner of the Starbucks they were in. 

"Yeah, kid. I hope you hadn't planned on having a life," he replied. Those words brought to mind Jareth, and Sarah suddenly felt a sharp pang of loss.

"Nope. It kinda just walked out on me last night," she said, her voice just as bitter sounding as Peter's had at the audition. Of course, at the intimation of a possible relationship, Peter was suddenly all business. He was his job before anything else. Well, most of the time.

"You had a relationship? With who? Anyone that can get us-" he corrected himself, "you- publicity?" Sarah laughed at that. Oh, yes. He could definitely get them publicity, but not the kind that Peter meant. Sarah mused for a moment on what would happen if she showed up to the premiere of this new, exhausting movie, which Peter claimed was her big break, with Jareth...

"Nope," she said. "Just this crush I had when I was fifteen." Peter looked kind of dejected. _"If you think you're put out by that, think how I feel."_

"Oh." Sarah rolled her eyes at the pitiful sounding response he gave and lightly punched his arm.

"Don't sound so sad. You're making me as bitter as you," she chided. Peter laughed at that.

"You're anything but bitter, Sunshine," he replied. Sarah's face grew sullen at that. She was suddenly reminded of some very familiar words that had haunted her dreams not too long ago.

_"Live without the sunlight..."_

"You'd be surprised, Peter. You'd be really surprised," she said, allowing him to see the sadness in her eyes. Whatever he saw there must've scared the crap out of him because Peter rarely touched her, and now he suddenly had his hands on her shoulders.

"Jesus, Sarah. What the hell happened? What'd he do to you?" he suddenly lowered his voice, noticing the looks they were getting from the nearby customers in the Starbucks. "Did he rape you?" That got a laugh from Sarah. She and Jareth had discussed the particular subject of what would happen if she got raped. Jareth had said simply that it wouldn't happen. When Sarah asked why, he had simply said that he would castrate the man before he could even pull her pants down. The memory made her smile for a moment, and then she remembered that she wouldn't be seeing Jareth for a very long time.

"No," she sighed. "We were just friends. It was never like that." But even as the words left Sarah's lips she felt strangely as though she had lied. What about all those nights they had spent just staying up, content to be in each other's presence as she did homework and his gaze ever lingering on her? What about when he had comforted her after her little mishap with Stephen? What about the way her body tightened when he held her?

"Sounds like it," Peter said sarcastically, noticing the heated look on Sarah's face.

"Shut up, Peter." She scowled, and the blonde agent laughed.

"You've got so much talent kid, you make Winona look like Paulina," Peter said, smiling. Sarah's scowl darkened.

"That could be taken badly," Sarah replied darkly.

"How?"

"You could be calling me ugly." That got a laugh out of him.

"Come on, kid. I'll drive ya to your first day of gymnastics boot camp," Peter said as he stood up, coffee in hand.

"Oh, goody," Sarah replied as she followed him out the door. Sarah couldn't help but feel a knot of dread tighten in her stomach. _"Please, don't let this be an omen."_

* * *

"You're the girl?" a heavily Russian accented voice called to Sarah as she stood, looking out at the athletes who were practicing in the gym. She looked around and spotted a small, tan man with a full head of white hair and blue eyes. Before Sarah could reply, he sized her up and commented, "A little tall, don't you think?" If Sarah had been an owl she would've been ruffling her feathers. As it was, she simply blushed. 

"I can only go to seven this weekend," was the first thing she blurted out. Sarah felt the blush burning at her cheeks fervently. She looked on as a strawberry blonde did what she recognized as a round off and a backhandspring and what she didn't recognize as a double back pike on a tumble track. The man in front of her finally realized what she meant.

"Whatever," he said with a disgruntled wave of his hand. "Sarah! Come here!" Sarah looked confused for a second, but then she saw the strawberry blonde coming their way.

"Yeah, Victor?" The other Sarah was wearing a black velvet leotard with no sleeves; she left the brunetter feeling very insecure in the sweatpants and t- shirt she was wearing.

"Get this girl the green and silver leo," he ordered. "And have her do condition and line drills." Before either Sarah could reply he walked off to tell some blonde to do a triple back layout.

"I'm Sarah, too" Sarah said.

"Well, that's gonna be confusing," she grinned. "You can just call me something else if you'd like." She lead Sarah through a corridor towards a dark room.

Sarah shook her head. "No, I'll pick a new name. You've been here longer." The other Sarah ran her hand along the wall until she hit the light switch. She flicked it, and a light came on. The room had two racks of leotards of varying color and design.

"I guess we can just call you whatever your last name is," the shorter girl said. Sarah hadn't realized that she was, in fact, quite tall. This girl was about 5'2" and she had seemed to be one of the taller girls. Sarah mentally cursed her five foot seven inches of height.

"Williams," she replied as the other Sarah looked for the leo that Victor had specified. "Is Victor the owner or whatever?"

"Yeah. The head coach, too. He's from Russia, obviously. You think that after twenty years here, his accent would be at least a little less prominent. I think it's just gotten worse," she said, taking a hanger with a leotard off the rack. The leotard was a velvety deep forest green with silver swirls of silk stretching across the right hip to the left shoulder like the elaborate gossamer of a spider web. "God. When did Victor have good taste?" she said, handing the hanger to Sarah. "The changing room's there," she said, pointing a finger at a door opposite the one they came in through. Sarah briefly observed that the basic color scheme of the entire place was white. Even hospitals had more color to their rooms...

"Thanks," Sarah replied, going inside to change. She locked the door and shimmied out of her pants while thinking, _"God. What have I gotten myself into?"_ She pulled off her shirt and took the leotard off the hanger. "It looks so...small." She put her feet through the leotard and pulled it up her legs. She slipped her arms through the arms holes of the tank top style and smoothed it out. A knock sounded on the door before the other Sarah's voice followed.

"You okay?"

"Yeah," Sarah replied.

"There's a mirror out here." Sarah opened the door and looked to her right, where the gymnast was standing. She stood in front of the mirror. As soon as Sarah caught sight of herself, her face contorted.

"Do all of the leotards make your thighs look huge?" The other Sarah laughed.

"Yeah. Pretty much. I think you look great, though," she replied. "Come on, today's gonna be hell for you. I've never heard of Victor giving line drills and conditiong for a whole day before."

Sarah felt her stomach sink. Her only thought as she followed the strawberry blonde back to the gym floor was simple. _"Shit."_

* * *

"Jesus, Sarah. You look terrible," Peter said as Sarah climbed into his porsche. Sarah's hair, which was tied back in a ponytail, had frizzed slightly around her forhead and was wet with sweat. Beads of it were clinging to her forehead. Her face was flushed, and she held her body wearily, with shoulders slumped and her breathing shallow. 

"Shut up and drive," she commanded. Peter smothered a laugh but couldn't help the smile.

"Yes, Your Majesty".

Sarah ran a chalky hand across her forehead in an attempt to wipe away the sweat. She hadn't bothered to change out of the leotard, and instead, she held her clothes over one arm. Peter turned the car radio on, and Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" came on.

"Ugh. This song is so played out," he said before searching through the stations. Afer about five minutes, he left it on a station when the opening notes of Aha's "Take On Me" blared on the speakers.

"I love this song!" Sarah exclaimed, coming to life. She rolled down her window, and Peter followed suit. They both sang along when the lyrics started out.

"We're talking away. I don't know what I'm to say. I'll say it anyway. Today's another day to find you shying away. I'll be coming for your love, OK?" Sarah smiled. This song just makes people happy. That's probably why it was rising in the charts... Take on me, take me on. I'll be gone in a day or two!" Sarah was the only one singing the end note. Peter's voice just couldn't get that high. They both sang the rest, Sarah being the only one to sing the ''two."

Peter glanced at Sarah, satisfied to see that the smile was back on her face. He'd never admit it aloud, but Sarah was like the kid sister he never had. When Adam Ant's "Goody Two Shoes" came on, he turned the volume down. Sarah gave him a quizzical look before he spoke. "You know, Sarah. I was thinking, about what you said about your boyfriend-"

"I told you, he's not my boyfriend," Sarah interrupted.

"Riiight," Peter said sarcastically. "So anyway- I was thinking, can he sing?"

Normally, Sarah would have freaked that he would ask such a coincidental question because she didn't believe in coincidence, but this was Peter. Peter was always thinking of random things, so she wasn't freaked out. In fact, more often than not, he was able to think exactly what she was. "Yes," Sarah replied. Her eyes suddenly narrowed. "Why?"

"Well," he said slowly. "I think it would be a great idea if you two cut a single together."

"Wh- what?" Sarah sputtered, choking in surprise on her spit.

"Yeah. You've got a terrific voice. If he could hold is own with you, then all I'd have to do is find a hit. That way, you can get more notice and publicity, and more people will want to know about you and who your honey is," he explained. Sarah just stared at him.

"No," she said.

"What? Why not?"

"Because I'm not going out with him, and because the idea of him being seen in public..." Sarah shivered with the thought. No, not because she was afraid of what Jareth would do. No, because she was afraid that she would actually be jealous when all the women started fawning over him, which they most certainly would.

"What? Is he hideous or something?"

"No! He's dead y." Sarah instantly wanted to bite the words back. She had actually just admitted aloud that she found Jareth attractive.

"Oh," Peter replied. "So you'd be jealous."

_"Damn. He's good,"_ Sarah thought as they turned onto her street. The weariness she felt was seeping back into her expression. "Peter, not that looking into my personal life isn't terribly fascinating, but I'd rather not." He pulled into her driveway. "Thanks for the ride. I'll see you tomorrow." Sarah opened the door and started to slip out of the car, but Peter caught her wrist.

"Sarah," he said, "I know that something's eating you up right now. I don't know what, but you know you can talk to me. I won't judge you or anything." Sarah looked down at Peter and felt a momentary urge to tell him what was happening in her life but didn't.

"Thanks, Peter. But I have no idea what you're talking about," she said, plastering on a fake smile. "You'll be at my show for school this weekend, right?"

"I thought you were doing independent study?" he asked, looking confused.

"I am, but I get to do the show since I've got the lead," she replied. He released her wrist.

"Okay. I'll be there. Grease, right?" She nodded.

"Bye, Peter," Sarah waved bye and shut the door. She could feel her muscles protest as she stretched them to walk up to the front door. As soon as she got in, Irene came out of the kitchen.

"So- how was your first day?"

"Terrible." And Sarah ran up the stairs, suddenly feeling very overcome with all the emotions of the day. She opened the door, flooding her dark room with the light from the hallway. Sarah, feeling the tears well up, dropped her clothes on the floor and tossed herself onto the red silken comforter of her bed. She clutched the pillow, which still happened to smell like Jareth, to her face and let tears soak it for the second time in a week.

"Damnit, Jareth. I don't know when," she began to sob something incomprehensible before continuing, "Don't know when it started or how it happened- but I need you." She held the pillow tighter, almost to the point of smothering, and cried. She cried for all the frustrations with her schoolmates, all her physical weariness, all her depression at losing Jareth... None of it made any sense, but she didn't care. All she knew was that Jareth wasn't there and that he probably wouldn't be coming back. If his pride was anything like before, he wouldn't be coming back. That was the last thought Sarah had before her tears left her to the land of slumber.

* * *

"If I may speak freely, Your Majesty?" Sir Didymus now spoke before the throne of the Goblin King. Jareth sat sideways in his chair, legs draped over one of the arms. The Goblin King raised an eyebrow but nodded, curious to see what Didymus would show him. He needed something to take his mind off Sarah... He hadn't even slept since setting Didymus and Ludo free. "You look like one who hath been smote with a most unlaughable affliction." Jareth glared at him. 

"If you're going to talk about my appearance, then it's a no," he said, somehow managing to look menacing while reclining most comfortably in an uncomfortable chair.

"I beg your forgiveness. That wasn't what I was going to say. What I was going to say was-" he paused, whether to gather his wits about him of for effect, Jareth knew not, "I think I have a different punishment quite suitable for Hoggle that will solve you dilemna." That got Jareth's attention. He swung his legs down and placed his elbows on his knees, resting his chin on his palms as he stared down at the knight.

"Oh?" He arched an eyebrow, trying to remain indifferent but failing.

"Yes. I do recall Hoggle saying that if Sarah ever kissed him, you'd turn him into the prince of the land of stench," he said. Jareth nodded, not quite sure where Didymus was going with this but interested all the same. The fox fidgeted where he stood before finally straightening himself and looking Jareth in the eye. "Why not?" Jareth's mismatched eyes of brown and blue widened in a moment of surprise before anger, cold and seething, set in.

"Get out, Didymus," he said, dropping the title. The little knight's eyes widened fearfully as he felt the icy- hot power of the Goblin King hit him like tendrils. Didymus wasn't sure whether the King was aware of his power permeating the room like a blast of icy snow, freezing and burning at the same time, but he didn't care to find out. Jareth was giving him a way out before he used magic to get rid of him forcefully, a very rude gesture to those familiar with the old ways.

"Yes, Your Majesty," he said, bowing before him. "I am sorry about the who-"

"Go," Jareth said it calmly, coldly, but the word seemed to be bellowed with the way his magic was projecting and magnifying him. As soon as the little foxm squirrel thing was gone, Jareth allowed himself to let go completely. No one was really aware of the true extent of Jareth's powers. Before he had come into his Goblin Kingship thirteen hundred years ago, he had had to stifle them in order to stay alive. The High King could've easily seen Jareth as a threat and killed him. Now that he himself was Goblin King, he allowed himself a freer usage of his magic, as it would be seen as weakness if he did not exhibit greater power. Still, he could never really fully let go. Spies were everywhere, and the moment it was discovered that Jareth could be the most powerful being in all the Underground, evidence of some crime or another would be planted. Then, he'd be killed. And so- in a rare moment- Jareth let go.

The castle around him shook, and the stones began to dislodge themselves. He quickly realized that the magic of the castle couldn't sustain itself against him, so he transported to the Escher room. Here, the very pathways began to change. Stairs swung around to different walls, crumbled, or even simply ground themselves into dust. Jareth simply moved, punching every single thing that came within his range, which promptly turned into a lovely gray- blue hued dust, until only the walls remained. Jareth breathed a heavy sigh as he let him come to himself.

"Fuck, Sarah. I don't know what to do," he sighed again, laying against the ceiling as he ran his hand down his face. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply, forcing the strange choking sensation that welled up inside him back down. "I don't know what to do."

* * *

Okay. So again- a short chapter. But I'm lazy and want to get another chapter up. This felt like a good place to end it. 


	5. Chapter 5

**

* * *

**

**For Keeps  
**By: InuLvr7

Sarah's been out of the Labyrinth for 6 month, and her seemingly instant maturity hasn't gone unnoticed. When Jareth shows up, seeking to understand how she beat him, things progress down a path neither could have anticipated. JS

Disclaimer- I own some David Bowie memorabilia and ummm... some leftover candy from Halloween... But not Labyrinth...

Chapter Five:

* * *

"Okay. So- are you sure you got it, Williams?" asked Sarah, the gymnast. Sarah, the brunette, nodded. 

"Yeah. I apprecciate you helping me by the way. I don't know how I'd do if it was just me and Victor," Sarah shuddered. The strawberry blonde laughed. They stood in a corner of the gym. The vault line ran on the opposite side and into the opposite corner. The raised red spring floor was soft under foot. Sarah Williams stood next to the other Sarah, both in their own leotards. The other Sarah's was royal blue and black.

"I didn't understand a word he said either when I first came here. His accent's just sooo..." she paused to think of the word.

"There?" Sarah offered. The other Sarah nodded.

"Exactly. Now do the cartwheel," she commanded. Sarah rolled her eyes. It wasn't that difficult. All she had to do was kick her legs straight up over her head while she supported herself on her 'straight, by her ears' arms. She took a deep breath, took a skipping start, and kicked her heels over flawlessly.

"Did I do all right?" The other Sarah stood, mouth agape. When Sarah spoke, she shook herself from her stupor.

"Just perfect," she smiled. "Here, I want you to try this. It's similar, but instead of swinging you feet down so that you land sideways, land them both at the same time, facing the direction you came from," she said. She quickly bounded off and illustrated the movement herself.

"That's a round off, right?" Sarah said, recognizing the move from Victor's commands to the other girls. The other Sarah nodded, sort of surprised that Sarah had already started picking up the lingo.

"Yup." She stood back and watched as Sarah repeated her move, punching the floor as she landed so that she was able to get a jump back afterwards. The little strawberry blonde felt in a daze. This was Sarah's first day of real gymnastics. She'd never even done so much as a somersault before, and she was already able to pick up the basics and add a punch that most level threes were still struggling with. "I think you should start doing these drills," she said, pointing to a spring board placed in front of a five foot in diameter, cotton- stuffed cylinder that was just on the opposite side of the floor. "Just jump back off the spring board and arch over the cylinder. I need to go talk to Victor about him spotting you." Sarah was about to protest that she really didn't need Victor, who happened to often forget who she was and her nonexistent skill level, but the other Sarah had already left to go get him from the other floor in the front of the white- washed gym.

"Umm... okay then," she said, feeling very alone in her little corner of the massive Elite gym. She was suddenly aware of how much the leotard exposed her as she watched the other gymnasts in the middle of the gm, who spun 'round and 'round on the bars. Sarah narrowed her eyes. "Do they have any fat on their bodies?" she said to no one in particular. She jumped up in surprise when she heard a voice.

"Can't you tell by how flat they are?" Sarah turned to see the other Sarah coming her way with Victor. She must've been staring longer than she though..

"Flat?" she asked, confused for a second. She looked back at the level sevens and blushed as she realized that the littler Sarah was referring to their lack of chest. She looked back at her smaller counterpart. "How old are you?"

"Fourteen."

Sarah shook her head and smiled. "Who's the bad influence in your life?" she asked. The other Sarah laughed at that. She pointed to a busty girl doing front handsprings on the tumble track next to the first floor. She looked to be about sixteen.

"That's Marie. She has an obsession with men older than her. Especially singers," she said.

"What's all this chatty? -ness?" Victor asked, stumbling somewhat over the words. Both Sarahs repressed a smile.

"Williams, do a roundoff," she said, not really sounding too commanding. Sarah did as she was bid, and Victor couldn't help the surprise on his face.

"Come here," he said. Sarah felt a little nervous as she walked over to the man who, on a mat, knelt on one knee in front of her. He turned her, so that she was standing on the mat with him directly to her right. "Do a backbend." Sarah's eyebrows knit together in confusion. The other Sarah quickly illustrated it, leaning back with her arms straight and by her ears so that she went all the way down, her body arched in a bridge. Sarah's brows now knit in concentration as she attempted the back bend. She bit her lower lip and actually managed to do it with grace. She was surprised to find it actually came easily to her. "Kick over."

That instruction was simple enough. Sarah pushed her shoulders and hips towards the wall in front of her and kicked off the floor, her body flowing gracefully into an L- shape and then into the upright, standing position. Victor looked at her, not really all that impressed. The other Sarah noticed and spoke up. "That was her first time even hearing that." Impressed didn't even cover it now, and Sarah was incredibly aware of their awe. She blushed.

"Can you try to jump up and back and do that? All in one motion?" she asked. Sarah nodded while thinking that if she killed herself at least she wouldn't have to go home and cry herself to sleep again. Sarah moved back to where she had stood before and felt Victor's hand on her back. She glanced with a look of horror on her face at the other Sarah. She laughed. "It's spotting."

She felt herself blush in embarassment and bent her knees. She jumped back and up, her back arching as she scrunched her eyes shut, she kept her arms straight and by her ears. She felt her palms hit the mat as her legs flowed straight above her and over so that she landed standing straight. Sarah looked around, feeling a rush of adrenaline. Both Victor and the other Sarah looked astounded.

"Oh my God." Sarah smiled at the gymnast who had just given her a compliment without meaning it.

"Um, thanks?" Victor looked at her with a small smile that was quickly turning into a full- on 'Oh-my-God-you're-my-savior-you-make-Jesus-look-like-Kevin-Federline' grin.

"I think we have to start more difficult tricks," Victor said. Sarah grimaced as he started to lead her away. She looked back at the other Sarah, who just smiled as she saw where Victor was taking her.

_"She has no idea that she's just become Victor's favorite or that she just got an automatic boost to level five,"_ she mused. _"Poor Sarah. Victor smells."_

* * *

"Damnit, Jareth! Stop being stubborn!" 

Sobs echoed in the empty room, and the cries of one Sarah Williams were in vain. No one was home to hear. Not even Toby. Especially not Jareth. She clutched the pillow, the one with his scent, that she had so come to cherish these past few days. It had been two days since her first time doing a back handspring, and now she was sore all over from doing roundoff- backhandspring- back tucks, front tucks, front pikes, back pikes, and back layouts. To top it all of, tomorrow was Grease's opening night, and all she could do was cry. Sarah felt slightly pathetic for a moment, but the feeling quickly dissipated. It was good for one's mental health to cry. People who don't cry have something wrong with them...

"Damnit. Not even one of them! Damn it!" She pounded the bed beneath her with her flailing heels. When she finally let herself go limp, she got mad at herself. Why was she acting like such a child? How was it that Jareth reduced her to tears and throwing a temper tantrum? She thought that missing him was supposed to get easier. It had only been...three days. Well, four if you counted nights. "Damnit." Abscence does make the heart grow fonder. Well, that implies there was a level of fondness to begin with... How the hell did that happen???

"Damn," she sighed, but it didn't sound half as angry as she wanted it to. Instead, she just sounded... sad. Sarah rolled off her bed and walked over to the vanity. She looked at herself and saw the puffiness around her nose and eyes- both characteristics of crying. She gasped, though. When she looked into her eyes, she could see what Jareth had once sang.

_"There's such a sad love, deep in your eyes..."_

Of course, it wasn't deep now. No, it was quite shallow, and shallow is easily visible. "When did I get so... pathetic?" she whispered the person before her. She had never been one to lay down and cry, just waiting for something better to come around. Sarah Williams went out and took life by the horns. She felt her resolve strengthen. "I'm not pathetic. I will not sit here and cry like... like some lovesick kid," she promised herself. Sarah grabbed her shoes and sat down on the bed. She'd call Stephen and see if he wanted to do something. Day before the show- he'd totally want to go out or something. Sarah slipped both her shoes on and looked around. She caught sight of the pillow- his scent- filled pillow- and felt her resolve begin to crumble. Her lower lip trembled, and she tried to blink back the tears that were welling up.

"No. No- I won't cry again," she choked out. Sarah brought her hands up to her face.

"My Lady?" Sarah froze. God, she was going crazy. She couldn't actually have heard- "Are you all right?" She lowered her hands away and blinked at the mirror.

"Sir Didymus?" The knight, who sat on her bed behind her in the reflection, nodded. Sarah immediately turned around and saw him, sitting there. She hugged him close to her. She felt a momentary surge of happiness.

"You're all right!" she said, surprised. Hadn't Jareth-?

"Of course," Sir Didymus replied. "Thy Majesty, the King, doth not do anything half way." Sarah felt a blush rise. No, of course he wouldn't. He went full out on everything he decided to do.

"What happened?" Sarah asked as she set him down.

"Well," Didymus began, "A few days ago, His Majesty magicked me to him from the oubliette. After a moment of speech, he restored my health. We spoke a moment more, and then I found myself back home and brother Ludo was with me, his health restored as well." Sarah did a long blink, the one she sometimes did when she was taking in a lot of information at once.

"He let you go?" she repeated. Didymus nodded. "What about Hoggle?" she asked.

"I'm afraid he did something His Majesty could not so easily forgive," he mused.

"What could that be?" Sarah wondered. Didymus tapped his chin thoughtfully.

"Well, perhaps it is because you kissed him," Didymus said, "and not-"

"Don't say it, Sir Didymus!" Sarah interrupted. The knight stopped and looked at her expectantly. A heavy blush rose up on her face. "No. It's not like that." She didn't like Hoggle that way. No, she was pretty sure she liked J- _"No."_

"Of course," he chuckled. He looked at the clock and jumped up. "I should get back! My brother- in- arms is watching Ambrosius, and he has a tendency to wander off!"

"Ambrosius or Ludo?" Sarah laughed, and Didymus joined in.

"Either," he bowed low. "I shall speak to thee again soon, Lady Sarah."

"Oh wait!" she said. "Not tomorrow. I've got a performance. Three days?"

"Three days," he promised before he faded out. Sarah was left alone. She looked down at her shoes and sighed. She wouldn't go out now. Didymus's visit had left her feeling happier and with a lot more to think about. _"Emphasis on the lot."_

Jareth had set Ludo and Sir Didymus free, but not Hoggle. Why not? She couldn't think of a reason as to his actions for the life of her. Actually, she never had a clue as to what Jareth's motivations were. Sometimes, she thought that he didn't either. Sometimes, when he had been with her, he had seemed so tired. The weary look in his eyes as he just crashed on her bed. Of course, he probably wouldn't like her terminology as Kings do not crash or whatever, but he had done it. Sarah kicked off her shoes with a sudden thought. Was she Jareth's only friend? He spent all his nights with her- or he had... Sarah stood up and shimmied out of her jeans. She quickly pulled off her shirt and pulled on her red silk pajamas. Jareth had once commented on them being the exact color of what he supposed a prostitute would wear. She had promptly kicked him in the shin, which made him yelp in turn and fall on her, sending them both tumbling onto her bed... A sob made made it's way out her throat.

_"What does he want?"_ Sarah thought to herself as she climbed underneath the covers. She'd asked him that same question when first he'd appeared in her room over a month ago. _"And why would he release the others but not Hoggle?"_ Surely his crime wasn't greater. What did he do exactly? Sarah remembered Didymus's words._ "Could he be...?"_ She shook her head. Jareth wouldn't actually have been jealous- would he? "No. No, he wouldn't-" she whispered aloud. She laid her head down on THE pillow and inhaled Jareth's scent, finding comfort in it instead of the pain it had previously caused. "He'll come back," she said to herself. "He'll come back." She felt a lone tear make it's way down her cheek. _"Please, come back..."_

* * *

Jareth paced in his room, quite oblivious to anything else around him- the silver and blue canopy and all the various curtains and drapings of the same color scheme included. Something was... wrong? No, that wasn't it. Something was different within the Goblin King, and he couldn't figure out what it was. Plus, he still had that whole Sarah issue to deal with. 

"What could it be?" he asked himself as he stopped pacing. He looked himself in the mirror, really looked. It had been several days since he last slept. He couldn't sleep, not when the prospect of never seeing Sarah was on the horizon. Jareth examined his reflection. His hair had lost some of its volume, and his clothes looked disheveled. Even his glorious eyes seemed dulled. He shook his head. This wouldn't do. It wouldn't do at all. Losing his head over some girl? Of course, as soon as the thought entered his head, he knew it wasn't true. It was much more with Sarah. She wasn't just some girl.

She was the champion of the Labyrinth, someone with so much potential and so much charm and grace, it was impossible for him to go without thinking of her for more than two minutes. "What to do?" Jareth groaned as he ran a hand through his hair. A bath- a bath would be first. "Then I'll go to the library and see if anyone else ever had so much trouble with mortals."

After Jareth's bath, he looked almost like his stunning self again. The bags under his eyes were the only detraction. He made his way to the library and looked over several texts, ranging from "The History of Everything" to "How to Deal with Possible Romances for Dummies." The latter interested him far more than the former, though. That was how Sir Didymus found him, reading aloud to himself. "When confronted in this situation, simply put on your game face and-" Jareth looked up, seeing Didymus staring up most peculiarly at him. "Sneaking is punishable by death, too," Jareth said, raising an eyebrow. Didymus simply laughed, and that caused Jareth to raise both eyebrows. "What's put you in such a good mood?" he asked. Jareth's stare made Didymus feel like a mouse to a bird of prey, which wasn't too far from the truth.

"I've just spoken to Lady Sarah," Didymus said boldly. Jareth's fury immediately flared out from him.

"After I forbid it?" Jareth said coldly, slowly- much like the way someone who is resisting the urge to kill speaks.

"Yes," Didymus said. He was being very uncharacteristically insubordinate. "And I think if you cared for her at all you would think of the Lady-"

"When did she become a Lady?" he shouted. Didymus blinked but did not quaver, even though he felt the tendrils of the icy hot power licking along his skin painfully.

"Even before a King offered her his heart," he replied. "Now, would you kindly acquiesce the Lady's wishes?" Jareth's power flared hot, the temperature that felt like Didymus's skin should be melting off.

"You do realize who you're speaking to," he said, his voice commanding.

"And you realize that she's barely eating and cries herself to sleep?" he retorted. Jareth stood still at that, and his power seemed to suddenly just vanish.

"Leave," he commanded. Before the fox- squirrel thing could protest, he had disappeared. Jareth silently blessed whoever it was that gave the Goblin King that ability and then stopped. Sarah wasn't eating? He sat down on one of the soft, plush arm chairs and realized he would never get any thinking done here. He grabbed a few books, the "How to Deal with Possible Romances for Dummies" included, and transported to his study.

The Goblin King's study, although built of the same cool, drab grey stone as the rest of the castle, smelled richly of the mahogany furniture that occupied it. Several tapestries hung on the walls, all depicting scenes of previous goblin kings and their exploits. Jareth crossed the room to his desk as he pondered Didymus's words.

Could he be right? Could the little creature- thing be right? Was there another way? He sat down and reclined back in the deep cushioning of the white silver leather upholstered chair. He rubbed his temples as he placed the feet upon the table, one ankle hooked over the other.

"Why are the idiots beginning to make sense?" he groaned. Jareth slid a hand over his face as he let the other rest on the cushioned arm rest. Why did everything that had to do with Sarah confuse him? _"How you've turned my world, you precious thing..."_ the line struck him. He felt a bitter smile cross over his face as he contemplated his dilemna.

Jareth sat there, tapping his chin and drumming his fingers on the mahogany end of the arm rest, and thought what Didymus had said over. Hadn't he said something before about the Bog of Eternal Stench? He nearly smirked, thinking of Hoggle's reaction to the mere threat of it when Sarah was running the Labyrinth. He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. He hadn't slept in so long... "How you turned my world, you precious thing," he sang softly. "You starve and near exhaust me." Knowing what to do, Jareth finally allowed himself to sleep. In a most uncomfortable position, as he would soon find.

* * *

After another painful day of gymnastics, Sarah stood in the dressing room, backstage of the large auditorium. It was a large room with white walls and white tile flooring. She leaned forward on the black waist- high counter that ran along two of the walls. The mirror she looked in followed atop the counter along the walls and stretched to the ceiling. The clear lightbulbs characteristic of dressing rooms framed the mirror and cast their light on Sarah, who was wearing her first costume of the night. 

"Thirty minutes!" the booming voice of the Drama Department/ chorus director shouted. Sarah clenched the edge of the counter tighter as she leaned on her palms/ She let her head hang low, her hair falling like a curtain around her fully made- up face.

_"I will not cry,"_ she told herself. _"I will not cry. I will not cry. I will not cry..." _It became her silent mantra as she willed the tears back. _"Not again."_ Raising her head, she looked into the morror thoughtfully._ "Maybe he'll com- no. He wouldn't."_ She felt the tears well again. Sarah craned her head back and blinked back the tears. _"I'll cry after the show,"_ she promised herself. Sarah was vaguely aware that she was bargaining with tears, but it didn't matter. The tears receded.

"Twenty! Group prayer!"

Mr. Kowalski was surprisingly religious- a Catholic who didn't care about the public school rules. They prayed before every show. Sarah released the counter and walked out into the backstage room. The lights were dimmed in the large, thirty by fifty room. She slowly made her way over to the circle of students that was forming in the center of the room. She joined hands with the people next to her, Stephen and her red- headed friend Michelle, and everyone followed suit.

"We start this show as we do every show- with a prayer," he said.

"In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit," everyone joined. They prayed an 'Our Father,' a 'Hail Mary,' and a "Glory Be.'

"I love you all. Let's not screw this up too much." He exited through the door of the wall opposite the dressing rooms, the stage door.

"Hands in the middle, everyone!" Stephen shouted. Everyone complied, but the Freshmen looked confused. "On the count of three: D.F.U. ONE! TWO! THREE!"

"DFU!" everyone shouted. The Fresmen looked extremely confused as everyone began dispersing. Only five minutes time left...

"It stands for Don't Up," she explained as she followed Stephen to the stage door. They had to get up there first. _"Damnit. I hate being the first one on..."_

Sarah passed Stephen and went into the theatre. "Hey, Sarah," he whispered, "don't up."

"Hey, Stephen," she whispered back, "don't up, either." She walked behind the back curtain to the other side of the stage. It was pitch black on the stage, especially the wings. She stood in the right wing behind the curtain. She closed her eyes as she began to feel the butterflies in her stomach. God, how she hated nerves. Sarah listened, and she could hear the sounds of everyone that had stayed in the back room filing onto the stage. The curtains pulled back, and the stage lights came on. The beginning notes of the entrance song 'Grease is the Word' sounded out, and Sarah's eyes snapped open. She slipped into character, like pulling on a second skin. She stepped onto the stage, the bright lights not even phasing her. Nothing phased her now... except Jareth. Sarah stared out into the audience and felt a tear prick as she smiled. _"Show time."_

* * *

Thank you for one thousand nine hundred six hits I've gotten on this(1,906)... I'm so happy. I can't even tell you. Oh- and for my one- shot: thanks for the reviews. It was fun to write. Yeah. Okay- if this chapter had a title, it'd be "Self Help for Dummies."" 


	6. Chapter 6

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**For Keeps**

Sarah's been out of the Labyrinth for 6 month, and her seemingly instant maturity hasn't gone unnoticed. When Jareth shows up, seeking to understand how she beat him, things progress down a path neither could have anticipated. JS

**Disclaimer- all standard disclaimers apply**

Chapter Six:

* * *

Jareth wasn't in the audience for Sarah's show, although the ever passionate Sarah wished he was. She wished with all her heart that he would show up as a surprise and whisk her off her feet, and then they'd go make out in a broom closet. Of course, she knew that wasn't possible. They'd probably start fighting right after a brief moment of awkward reunion. Not that her thoughts mattered; Jareth wasn't there. Instead, he was sleeping in his study. The whole castle was silent as a tomb; none of the goblins wanted to wake Jareth. He tended to be cranky when woken, and none of the goblins wanted an even angrier, moodier Goblin King skulking around, kicking things- things like goblins. Just yesterday alone fourteen goblins had been thrown from various windows, all above two stories high. In a castle with forty foot vaulted ceilings, that says a lot. 

When Sarah got back from the second night of the show, she did what she did after the first night- she cried. As she lay there in bed, her throat choking up and strands of hair sticking to the trail of tears on her face, Sarah briefly considered trashing her room and screaming about the futility of it all, but she thought better of it. _"Acting like a child won't help me or solve anything,"_ the thought firmly. _"But damn. It would make me feel better."_ She had kicked the sheets down to the bottom of the bed; she hated sheets with a passion. The only things covering her body now were the red silk comforter and a lovely pale pink nightgown that came to her mid thigh. It was a present from Michelle, who had decided that all her pajamas sucked. She'd never worn it before, calling it nothing more than a trashy excuse for lingerie, but something about last night had changed her. Something about Jareth- as usual.

She'd really expected Jareth to come. She wouldn't admit it aloud, but she had. She had wanted him to just come and be smirking at her from the audience. Or to show up inside the dressing room in a mess of glitter holding a bouquet of roses. _"Hell, anything!"_ Sarah thought as she turned over onto her side, one hip thrust skyward. She wasn't asking for him to be in all his glory, though she knew he would. She wasn't asking him to be anything but what he wanted himself to be. He didn't have to bend himself backwards-_ "I've been doing that enough lately..."_ All he had to do was be there, but apparently, that was asking too much.

_"Why?"_ Sarah thought bitterly. _"Why me? Why all this? Why any of this?" _She clutched the comforter closer to her, as if she could ward off the cold she felt with its silk._ "Jareth, I need you. Why aren't you here?" _She let the tears come without any fight; the sobs racked through her as she clutched her only object of comfort- the Pillow._ "The world falls down every night, and you're not here." _Sarah smiled bitterly. That was a dumb thought. How cliche of her- being selfish, as usual. _"Stupid Sarah,"_ she mentally berated herself.

"Sarah?!" The shout came from down stairs. Sarah groaned and gave a heavy sigh. Why was Irene always such a pain? She could be nice, true, but most of the time, her socializing was all that mattered. Sarah found herself growing to hate the social party world of adults more and more.

"Yeah?"

"We're going out now!" Sarah rolled her eyes. Irene and her dad would come back tipsy, as usual. The woman drank champagne like a fish does water.

"Whatever," she shouted back down. They couldn't go see her show, but they could go out? When did life become so cruel. The glass was sooo half empty right now. Sarah froze and stared off into space. When did she become a pessimist? She always looked on the bright side of things; why couldn't she now? She sighed and came back to herself. _"Please, come back, Jareth. There's so much I have to tell you..."_

* * *

"And then the Goblin King went away, leaving the girl alone again. Except the first time, she had found her views of him changed to dislike since he had become a rather cruel villain. This time, she found herself practically pining after him. She waited for what seemed forever, crying every night. The End." Toby stared up at Sarah with wide- eyes. 

"What the heck did you just tell Toby, Sarah?" Irene asked from where she stood in the doorway of her and Robert's bedroom. Sarah spun about, having not known that she had been listening. "He looks scarred."

"No, he looks," she turned around, studying Toby's face, "concerned." Irene tilted her head, looking for the 'concerned' expression.

"Nope. Don't see it. Honestly, Sarah, you need to get your head out of the clouds," she chided. Sarah resisted the urge to shout at her and ask her to shut the hell up about things she had no knowledge about but didn't. Instead, Sarah kept her mouth shut. "Peter called. He said that you've got to skip gymnastics tomorrow to go do read- throughs with the cast." Sarah nodded and stood up.

"Okay. I guess I should go take a shower, now," Sarah said, edging past Irene in the doorway. She hadn't gotten closer to Irene; she'd just come to learn that there were good sides and bad sides to every person. _"Even Jareth..."_

Sarah walked into her bedroom and promptly stripped down. She slipped on her big, soft, fluffy robe- a pink one at that- and scuffled off to the bathroom. She locked the door and turned on the shower, waiting for the water to heat, before taking off her robe. _"God,"_ she thought_, "I'm acting like a love sick school girl. I'm not even in love with the man." _Sarah felt a small bit of... something rise in her as she thought that- something that sounded like she was lying to herself. _"Even if I was,"_ she argued with herself, _"that's no reason to go out of of my head." _Sarah stepped under the hot water and let her head fall back._ "Great, now I'm quoting Grease. Honestly, these musicals get so tired after rehearsing for so long..."_

She grabbed shampoo and massaged it into her hair._ "Rehearsing Labyrinth never did, though..." _Her brow furrowed. _"Damnit. Not even a minute without thinking of him."_ She rinsed the shampoo out of her hair.

* * *

It had been two days since the Goblin King had fallen asleep; Sarah's closing night of Grease was going on. As she sang "Hopelessly Devoted," the Goblin King was just waking up and summoning to his hand a chalice of wine. Once it was drained, Jareth briefly considered showing up to Sarah's performance, but he quickly cast aside the thought. Sarah was calling on him; he could feel the familiar tug on his heart... 

His heart? Jareth was instantly awake. He stood up from the chair and began pacing the length of the room. It was true; last night- erm, two nights ago, he had decided to set Hoggle free. _"But why?"_ he thought._ "Only to be able to understand-"_ The Goblin King stopped. He knew that wasn't true. Not anymore; but what was true? Maybe once he summoned Hoggle, he would know. Or maybe he could ask Sir Di- "No," he growled with annoyance. Jareth was feeling very mercurial right about now, and the last thing he needed was some advice from the knight. Plus, he really didn't need to stoop down to asking the counsel of idiotic subjects. Jareth folded his arms over his chest and sighed. H'd always been so guarded, even when he let himself go, something was always guarded. Jareth shook his head, annoyed with himself.

He felt much too awake at present; if he freed Hoggle now, he might feel inclined to just kill the repulsive, little scab. Jareth walked over to the window and stared out with an extremely predatory gaze. He stepped onto the sill and looked out onto his kingdom. it was_ his_- to do with as he pleased. Leaping into the sky, he transformed into his owl form. A nice flight over what was his would do him good.

After all, how long had it been since he had a good, nice, long flight where the only thing that mattered was the freedom that one felt in the air? The unmistakable knowledge of utter and complete abandon. Jareth glided on the current and felt himself not feel... right. At home. The one place he had always felt at home didn't feel right anymore. _"What the bloody hell is wrong with me?" _He groaned inwardly, but he already knew the answer to that. It was the same answer it always was- Sarah. Sarah was always the cause of his agony. _"Am I not charming, considerate, well- mannered, and heir to the throne?" _He couldn't understand why Sarah wouldn't see that in him. "Am I not everything a maiden could wish for?" he said aloud, not even realizing that he had transformed and already landed on the ground somewhere in the Labyrinth. _"The girl must be mad..."_ He looked up. _"Something is wrong."_

* * *

"Tell me about it, stud," Sarah said with a smile. She was in her closing night costume still. Everyone was back at Stephen's house- cast party and all. Stephen just laughed at Sarah's response to his compliment. They stood by the wall, next to the marble mantle of the huge marble fireplace. Marble was definitely a theme here. Then again, when the owners of the house owned a global merchandising company, it was sort of expected. Sarah looked at the huge living room. _"Yeah, sort of."_

"Well, you were fantastic. Except when you forgot your lines at the drive- in," he smirked. Sarah punched him in the shoulder. It was her way of saying 'not cool, but it was still funny.'

"Shut up. I've had a hard day," she replied. Stephen looked at her studiously. The heaviness in her voice betrayed the light- hearted expression on her face. She was trying to be someone else again.

"You know you can talk to me about whatever's been bothering you, right?" he said, growing serious despite his attempt to keep the mood light. Music blared from the speakers of his home's fancy stereo. He was definitely filthy rich. Rich like the girls whose best friends are diamonds want to marry.

"Oh! I love this song!" Sarah said, recognizing it and anxious for an excuse to avoid his question. She hadn't dance in so long. Of course, the real reason was that Sarah really didn't feel with dealing with all of Stephen's "feelings" and shit tonight. All she wanted to do was get lost in something other than her thoughts. Those thoughts always happened to dwell on a very lovely pair of mismatched eyes and their even lovelier owner. She jumped into the throng of people dancing, leaving Stephen by the wall. _"It is an awesome song..."_

_"Dancin' with myself. Oh, oh! Dancin' with myself..."_

Sarah danced in the throng of the forty person cast and just let herself go. Billy Idol's songs kind of had a habit of doing that to people... She let her hips sway and shimmy until a circle had begun to form around her. _"Dance parties are so much fun."_ The song later had changed to "Love Shack" by the B-52s, and the circle had fully formed around Sarah.

"Go Sarah! Go Sarah!" Sarah smiled at the chant and kept going. Damn, her endurance had gotten better since gymnastics. She didn't even realize that Stephen's eyes were on her the whole time; his feelings had changed. Just because she didn't return them didn't mean he could just stop them.

_"Sarah. I wish there was something I could do to make the pain I see in your eyes go away, but I know I can't. You're in love; it's obvious. Whoever he is; he's the only one who can..."_ Stephen thought sadly as he watched her gyrate. _"I'd let you go, Sarah, but you can't let something go that you never had..."_

* * *

When Sarah finally stumbled into her room, she was giggling ecstatically. She normally didn't drink more than a cup of wine at the cast parties. Irene and her dad didn't mind if she drank; her mom, when the family wasn't broken, had let her have wine at special occasions and occasionally on Sundays. It wasn't something forbidden to her, so she never had the urge to really drink. Tonight, though, she drank. Hard. She hadn't even realized that that one shot of tequila made it six shots until... well, until now. She fell on her floor, laughing hard. It was only about one in the morning, which meant Irene and Robert were still out. Toby was practically drugged up on cold medicine, so she didn't think her parent and step parent would mind if she went out... if she didn't get caught. Sarah giggled. 

"I feel like nachos," she mused aloud as she stared up at the ceiling. She got up, after two failed attempts, and made her way back downstairs to make said nachos. When the aforementioned nachos were finished being made and up with Sarah in her room, on her bed, and miraculously not spilled nor inadvertently poisoned by a drunk teenager, Sarah found herself no longer craving the nachos. She looked at herself in the mirror and frowned.

"Why ish my hair soo-flat?" she slurred, walking over to her vanity. "That won't do at all; Jareth prefersh-big-hair." She took out a spray bottle of water, a teasing comb, and her hair dryer. "Let's tease you, hair. Then, we'll tease the boys." Sarah laughed at the "genius" of her drunken pun as she teased her hair as big as it had been in the Crystal Ballroom of the labyrinth.

"Let's see...ee..." she tapped her finger on her chin. "Oh! I know!" She took a tube of lipstick out of her purse and brought it to the mirror. "I need to remember thish...shtuf-f.. stuff," she stumbled over her words, "in the mola- mornal- morning." She wrote something messily on the mirror and dropped the lip stick on the floor. She turned and looked at the bed. "I think I'll have those nachos now..." Sarah got under the covers and ate her nachos. Afterwards, she threw the paper plate to the floor and curled up with the pillow that she had affectionately decided to just then name "J.J."

"G'night, J.J. Hopefully you'll stay longer than-" Tears came to her slightly bloodshot eyes. "Longer than- oh, Jareth. Come back. Jusht coa- come back."

* * *

When Sarah woke, most painfully, to a splitting headache, she threw the covers back over her head. Then, she suddenly realized just what had woken her up and that it would not stop unless she stopped it herself. "Alarms-" Sarah stopped whatever she was going to say. The extra sound hurt too much. She pulled the covers from her head. Luckily for her, it was still dark out, so she had no light to worry about. She groped around the side of her bed and quickly found off the button on the dreaded alarm. 

"Thank God," she whispered, going back under the covers. Sarah found herself once again in sleep, much to her hang over- experiencing body's content. However, waking up again would be a much more painful experience than the one with the evil alarm clock.

"Sarah!"

She instantly cringed and wanted to kill something, if only to relieve the pain. "What?" she said through gritted teeth.

"It's time to get up!" The covers were ripped off of Sarah, who burrowed under her pillow.

_"Oh, God. The light,"_ she thought as said light sent shocks of pain to her head, which she found to be aching, and nausea to her stomach, which had some nasty alchohol in it. "Irene! Would you please-" She stopped, feeling pain from the loud sound of her voice again. _"Damn. I'm hung over."_

"Sarah, are you hung over?" Irene asked incredulously. She narrowed her eyes at Sarah, who had somehow managed to burrow under three pillows without disturbing the sheets at all. Her eyes widened with shock. "You are!"

"Eureka, Columbus," she replied sarcastically. "Now go enslave some other Indians while I sleep."

"What?" she sputtered. Sarah peeked her head out from the pillows, her face contorted with pain and anger.

"Go away!" Irene ran from the room, not because Sarah told her to, but because she was actually afraid of what Sarah might have done had she not left.Yes, Irene was afraid of Sarah. The look in her eyes had been so pained, so... raw.

"Damn," she cursed, turning onto her stomach and grabbing the waste basket just in time as her stomach emptied its contents. Sarah managed to keep her hair back, so it remained nice and safe and clean. Of course, she didn't feel as such. She felt a splitting head ache that was only being exacerbated by her stomach's rebellion. _"Damnit. How much did I drink?_

When Sarah was finally finished with her nasty throwing up experience, she felt thoroughly disgusting._ "God. I need to brush my teeth and take a shower." _She stood up and grabbed onto a bed pole. "Did I eat another peach or something? Everything's dancing." The room slowly stopped spinning, and Sarah slowly stripped out of her costume, not wanting another dizzy spell. She then slipped on her robe and made her way to the shower. Hot water would do her good.

* * *

The Goblin King had flown itno the castle in a flurry. Now, Jareth stormed about the Castle beyond the Goblin City in a rage; the goblins were in a tiff and running about like chickens with their heads cut off. As well they should be; Jareth was in rage, the likes of which he hadn't been in for over two hundred years. Last time, it had been because he was pissed off that he had reached the age of sixteen hundred. The event was similar as to when women are pissed off at reaching thirty with no kids and no prospective marriage prospects, except Jareth never had really cared to be married. That is until now, and that's what he was pissed off about. He stalked the halls, his magic spreading around him like a cape. 

"Y- Your- Ma- Y-" a small goblin, who had been foolish enough to approach him, sputtered. He was promptly greeted with a gloved hand encircling his neck and was then acquainted with the air outside the open window to Jareth's left.

"Damn, bloody goblins!" he roared. Jareth never lost control like this and for good reason. His magic was ensconcing the entire Labyrinth, and every one of his subjects could feel the effect of its icy- hot gales.

It was all because of Sarah. _"Bloody, precious, little thing,"_ he thought with a sneer. It was all bloody Sarah's fault for being so- so enticing and tantalizing- yet innocent of it at the same time. Damn it. He hadn't even realized why he had offered her the world, her dreams, anything she should want if she would only stay with him. Now, he realized.

_"Fucking Hoggle- Prince of the Land of Stench,"_ he thought as he slammed a fist into the side of one of the walls, blowing a hole out. _"All the fucking, repuslive scab's doing."_ If Hoggle hadn't helped Sarah, then she would be with him now; he wouldn't be pissed off and blowing holes in his own castle.

He stared out the hole he had made and looked at his kingdom. It was buzzing with life. The Labyrinth was feeding off of his energy and magic like it never had before. He raised a brow at this; new parts were forming. The Labyrinth was actually... stretching. It was stretching its borders. He plucked a crystal from the air and immediately scryed into it to see if his subjects were reacting similarly. The goblins, the junk lady, the worm- all of them were in pain, writhing on the ground. The only ones unaffected were those who had helped Sarah on her journey. Jareth spun around and threw the crystal at the wall behind him; it shattered into nothing with a loud sound that quite satisfied Jareth. Love was keeping them safe from it. They were her friends, so they weren't being harmed. Jareth hit another wall, causing another hole.

_"I love you, Sarah. I've loved you since before you knew me,"_ he thought angrily._ "And it's all your bloody fault."_ He retracted his magic, so that his subjects were no longer in pain and the Labyrinth was no longer expanding._ "The King of the Goblins, in love with a mortal,"_ he sneered, remembering the words with bitter, caustic accuracy. _"And apparently granted her certain powers..."_

* * *

While Jareth threw his temper tantrum, Sarah was just getting out of the shower. She had on her fluffy, pink robe and even fluffier, pink slippers as she blew dry her hair. When it was suitably dry, she went back to her room and changed into her leotard. Yeah, she was going to be late, but Peter could always give her a ride. Irene was obviously in no mood to deal with her. Sarah turned to give herself a once over in the mirror and found herself stopped dead in her tracks. It was her lipstick, her handwriting- but she didn't remember ever writing it. Sarah walked closer to it, as if in a daze, and read the words over again. 

"Sarah, it's you... me...;.. You need to remember this: you love Jareth. Don't deny it. I'm you. I would know."

Granted, the words were kind of sloppy; sloppy being a gross understatement. There were randoms dots and splashes of lipstick covering the mirror, too. It was still her writing. Sarah brought her hand up to her mouth to stifle a gasp. Did she actually love Jareth? Love? The Goblin King? She backed up until she felt the bed at the back her knees. She plopped down on it; her knees were shaking. Hell! She was actually physically trembling. She couldn't actually love Jareth, could she? _"I mean, he's the frickin' Goblin King,"_ she thought, trying to reason with herself. _"He- he has a kingdom to run! I couldn't be the Goblin Queen- leave all my friends behind. I'm just seventeen. No one finds their lifemate or whatever at seventeen! Much less sixteen!"_

She fell back on the bed, her feet still suitably placed on the floor. She needed to think about this logically. When it came to Jareth, though, her thoughts always had the hardest time staying logical. Sarah took in a deep breath to calm her shaking body. _"If I love Jareth, which I'm not saying I do, then there would be no possible way for us. I would never be accepted as Goblin Queen, being a human, and he has enough pride issues to prevent a marriage from ever taking place. I have a life to live, a future here, and he has an entire kingdom to run, not to mention the job with the Labyrinth. It would never work out,"_ she thought. Sarah closed her eyes as a thought struck her. It was too much to hope for, though._ "If he were to give it all up for me- I wouldn't let him." _A cloud passed over the sun, casting shadow over her room through the open blinds. Sarah, for once, was thankful for the lack of sunlight.

She picked up her comforter and pulled it back onto the bed, crawling underneath it. The room suddenly felt a whole lot codler._ "I love Jareth? I'm not a dreaming, little girl anymore. How can I be in love with a man- a Fae- I don't even really know that well?"_ Sarah already knew the answer, though. She couldn't see Jareth now, and she knew why. She couldn't- wouldn't do anything to ruin his life, his reign. All her friends depended on him, and she knew how much his job meant to him from personal experience. She would never take him from that. _"Even if he didn't love me back, I couldn't see him. It would be too painful." _Sarah felt her the famliar prickling sensation she always got before she cried.

Sarah choked back a sob, but a tear slipped its way down her cheek. _"Oh, God. I do. I love Jareth the Goblin King."_

"Sarah?" her father's worried voice asked from the doorway. Sarah instantly wanted to be anywhere but here. Too late for that, though. She'd made up her mind.

"What?" she replied from beneath the covers.

"Your mother-"

"Irene is NOT my mother."

"She said you were... hung over? Is that true? Are you..._ partying_?"

Sarah rolled her eyes; her dad did his best. Really, he did, but it was never enough. "No, Dad. I'm just sick and want to sleep some more." Sarah silently thanked Jesus, being brought up in a good Christian home, for the sick sound that her choked sobs had produced in her throat.

"Oh. Okay," he replied vaguely, as if he had something more important on his mind. Whatever relationship had changed between her and Irene hadn't changed with her and her dad. She'd tried to be more understanding; in many ways, she was. Robert, though, hadn't changed. He was still so very clueless to Sarah's anger and pain at the divorce and remarriage. He hadn't even asked her opinon on what she thought of Karen as a person! Much less a new mother! Sarah staid very still as she listened to the door click closed and for Robert's footsteps to die. As soon as silence was the only thing greeting her ears, she allowed herself to collapse in tears.

"Damnit," she cursed. _"My first love is Jareth the Goblin King, and I won't ever even be able to kiss him."_ The tears flowed freely. _"I'll probably never even be able to tell him I love him."_

* * *

Jareth looked out his window with the melancholy and anger he felt clear in his eyes; the mask he always wore was off. Nothing could disguise his emotions tonight. No amount of food, drink, courtesans, or power could satisfy him now. He loved Sarah, and that was that. Nothing he could do. Everything he'd worked so hard for- his throne, the Labyrinth, his carefully guarded heart... She upset everything with just here mere existence. 

Love, he'd never thought it would happen to him. How could he not have recognized it? After everything he had done for Sarah- reordered time, turned the world upside down, even moved the stars- he hadn't made the connection. He mentally scoffed at himself. A dimwit, that's what he had been. He'd gone off his head over a girl- exactly what he told that pea- brained Hogwart not to do.

_"I'm a hypocrite,"_ he thought sardonically._ "A bloody hypocrite."_

Jareth, sitting on his famliar sill, felt quite at home and yet restless. The castle didn't feel the same anymore. He turned his eyes upward, to the Underground skies. _"Sarah, wherever you are, this is your fault."_

_"Yes, I blame you,"_ he thought bitterly, thinking of what her angry response would have been_. "Most likely something along the lines of, 'My fault? You're blaming me for what you feel?!'"_ Jareth pulled a crystal from the air and twisted it. He'd always told the challengers that it would show them their dreams. He'd never thought it did the same for him- all those times it showed him Sarah at just a twist. He'd thought that it just meant he was so powerful that the crystal hardly needed a scrying spell anymore. _"That never explained why I needed them to see others..." _He threw the crystal up in the air angrily. Sarah was just sleeping. Sleeping! While he was mourning over the loss of his heart!_"What am I doing? Moping around over some girl?"_

He stood up tiredly, though. _"Not just any girl- not even a girl. She's a young woman."_ He looked at the crystal, now suspended in mid air._ "And somehow, she beat me. I loss to her."_ He straightened out his shoulders and lifted his chin, regaining his composure and swirling it about him like a cloak. When he had nothing else, he would always have his decorum. Dignity, Sarah took that. She took everything but his cool composure.

* * *

Okies. There you go. Some lovely set up for the big reunion moment. This chapter was inspired by the one of the greatest songs EVER written- The Show Must Go On. Freddy's vocals are amazing. Thanks for the 2,800 hits! You guys are amazing! So I took a quiz "What Kind of Rocker Are You?" I'm a glam rocker... just thought I'd share that with you all. Screw that. I got it to 5,000 words and was just really anxious to post. I've been so busy lately. I thought I was gonna have all this free time, but suddenly, I just found my weekends swallowed up and everyday after school this week gone. I'm so sorry. Forgive me! Don't worry, though. The next chapter will be awesome. Maybe. Or maybe reunion time will be the next chapter. I'm mean. I know. 


	7. Chapter 7

* * *

**For Keeps**

Sarah's been out of the Labyrinth for 6 month, and her seemingly instant maturity hasn't gone unnoticed. When Jareth shows up, seeking to understand how she beat him, things progress down a path neither could have anticipated. JS

**Disclaimer- All standard disclaimers apply  
This chapter is dedicated to April and Brookie- who I love... due to amazingness...-ness... ess... es.. sss.  
Oh. And umm... No. I'm not a lesbian. I just really appreciate my friends/ sisters.  
I don't know what I'd do without them..**

Chapter Seven:

* * *

Sarah, still in the same day as her hangover that, as told to her father, was 'just a head ache,' was brushing her hair in front of her vanity. She had dressed in her leotard, dark green velvet with silver intricacies, and was just putting it up in a ponytail and shutting the drawer with her hairbrushes when her fingers brushed the soft leather of a photo album. Her brows knit together in a second of momentary confusion; then, she remembered. "Oh, god," she breathed as she took it out of the drawer. 

Sarah opened it up and looked at the first picture. It was her mom and dad- Linda and Robert- both holding hands. Linda was holding the results of a sonogram; the actual sonogram was on the next page. Both her parents were smiling. _"They look so... happy."_

Sarah flipped through the pages until she landed on one Robert must've taken; Linda was holding her five year old self in her lap. They were both laughing over something... Sarah flashbacked on the memory.

_"So then the girl knew what she had to do."_

_"What'd she have to do, Mommy?"_

_"She had to deny herself that what she wanted most to save the child."_

_"But what did she want most?" Linda had looked down at her with such a sad look. They were in Linda's and Robert's room._

_"She wanted to just give in. She wanted to be with the Goblin King for forever, but of course, he could never have felt that way in return. And so, she denied herself what he offered- her dreams." She had looked at Linda with such confusion._

_"I thought he was evil. And you said he wouldn't love her back." Linda laughed._

_"He would if she took her dreams, but no one wants forced love, Sarah. It's not real," she explained._

_"And evil?" she asked quizzically, looking up at the mother, the idol she adored._

_"Evil is just what we call things that don't make sense to us or intentions that go against what we think is for someone's own good- whether it's our own or someone else's good," she explained. "Do you understand?"_

_"Yeah. It means that you shouldn't judge people on just what you see or what you think. And umm... it's better to be sad and know you're not leading an empty life than to be happy and living a lie?" Linda looked perplexed before laughing._

_"When did you get so smart?" Sarah smiled._

_"When you taught me to read?" she offered. Robert came in right then; he was tinkering with a camera._

_"Hey, don't I get any credit?"_

_"No," Linda responded, and both the females laughed. Robert smiled and flashed the camera, capturing the moment she was currently looking at._

"We were so happy back then..." she trailed off. Sarah thought it over again. "Oh, God." A thought struck her. _"Did Mom meet-?"_

Her thoughts were cut off as the door bell rang. "Coming!" she called down before shutting the album and shoving it under her bed. Sarah did a once over in the mirror before running down the stairs. It would be a long day before she could get back to that.

* * *

"So? Wild party?" 

"You know it's not like that, Peter! I never party! I'm a good kid. I just- I have a lot going on," Sarah replied as she got into his car.

"Yeah. What with the lack of school and lack of high school drama, I bet," he said sarcastically as she shut her door. He clutched the stick and shifted the car into second.

"You know, I really don't need that from you. And- I'll have you know- I have plenty of drama going on in my life," Sarah retorted. She crossed her arms over her leotard covered chest. Of course, she was no longer the type of girl who could cross her arms over her cheast easily. Instead, they had to go under her breasts. For a brief moment, staring down at the cleavage her action had produced, Sarah envied the flat gymnasts she was on her way to see. She let her hands fall in her lap with a sigh. "You remember that guy I was talking about?" Peter nodded as he turned onto main street.

"Yeah?" Sarah heard the interest in Peter's voice, and for once, it wasn't the money hunting sound that usually is characteristic of an agent's voice. It was concern. She sighed deeply; that was definitely not something she was expecting.

"I'm going to have to tell you everything now, aren't I?"

"If I knew what the hell you were talking about, I'd come up with a wittier reply," he said serisously. Sarah shifted uncomfortably in her seat black leather seat.

"Peter, you didn't know me before..." she paused, "before. I was really childish. I was obsessed with this book- Labyrinth. It was this story of this girl who wished her brother away to the goblins. The Goblin King, who was only described as cruel in the book, took the baby. She realized she wanted her brother back and ran the labyrinth, beating the Goblin King, and getting back her brother. The book left out a few details, though."

Peter glanced at her, something unreadable on his face. "You sound as if you've been there." Sarah stilled and remained silent. "Sarah?" She remained still. "Sarah, you know there's no such thing as goblins, right?"

"See! This is why I didn't tell you! Or anyone! They'd think I was crazy! I know I'm not, Peter," she said. Strangely, she didn't sound crazy when she said it. She sounded as if she really believed it. They came to a red light, and Peter turned to look at her. Her jaw was set in her familiar stubborn conviction. "I'd prove it to you if I could." He sighed and ran his hand through his gelled blonde spikes.

"Tell me the story," he said.

"I'm not-" she blinked. "What?"

"Tell me the story," he repeated. Sarah blinked again before her face broke out in a beaming smile.

"It's gonna take a while," she said as the light turned green. Peter started driving again.

"You're late as it is already. A little later won't matter," he grinned.

"All right. Well, one night, when I was upset, and my parents were going out..."

* * *

Jareth, having had his realization involving Sarah, was quite angry; however, he was something more than angry. He was... forlorn? No, forlorn wasn't the word for it. Whatever the Goblin King was, it wasn't something he normally felt. It wasn't something he'd ever felt. Well, it felt akin to what had happened when Sarah beat him, but there was something else. Maybe it was knowledge? Knowledge of what exactly, he didn't know. As he sat on his throne, one leg thrown over the arm, other down on the ground, listening to idiotic subjects' petititons, he pondered his problem. That is, until Hoggle came in. 

"Yer- Yer Majesty?" Jareth snapped out of his reverie at the sound of the little scabby dwarf's atrocious accent.

"What is it now, Hedgeport?" he asked, irritated beyond belief that the thing would appear before him after he'd been so generous.

"Hoggle!" the dwarf corrected before continuing on, "And- it's 'bout the labyrinth." Jareth snapped both eyes upon him, and something passed behind the icy and earthy depths, a flickering flame that licked at the surface with orange heat.

"What about the labyrinth?" he snapped, instantly paying close attention the scab, who, he deemed, was not quite so repulsive when Sarah wasn't around.

"It's- well, it's changin'." He hopped from one foot to the other. "More stuff's in it, now. Ain't nothin' like it in the whole labyrinth." Jareth supressed an eyeroll and stamped his foot to get the attention of the dwarf, who was staring fixedly down at the ground.

"You will tell me just what has changed, Hoggle, or so help me, you're castle will be submerged in the Bog of Eternal Stench with you nailed to the floor inside," Jareth commanded, smacking the dwarf upside the head with the use of his handy riding crop, which he had summoned just then for that purpose.

"It- it's got an ice section to it. Miles and miles of- well, frozen water," he replied, rubbing the spot that the Goblin King had abused. Jareth, listening to what he'd come to tell him and looking at his sorry personage, couldn't help but laugh.

"Oh, Hiddle, you are amusing," he said, a twinkle in his eyes that instantly put Hoggle on edge. The little dwarf began to inch away back to the room's huge, wooden door, and Jareth sat back down on the throne, his laughter ringing about the room like an affected bell.

"Erm. I'll be seeing you later, Jareth." He was almost to the door before Jareth's sharp voice called him to attention once again.

"Hoggle." Hoggle looked up at the Goblin King, who sat in his previous position, riding crop in hand and casually thwipping his thigh. "You will refer to me only as Your Majesty." The cold harshness in Jareth's eyes made Hoggle's blood chill. The highly mercurial Goblin King could be many things, but that look let Hoggle know something he'd never suspected before of the king. He would and could kill him without a second's hesitation.

"Yes," Hoggle bowed, "Your Majesty."

_"Ice? This has to be Sarah's doing..."_ He looked up. _"What are you up to, my precious thing?"_

* * *

"Well?" 

"God. Damn. Sarah." Stephen ran his hand through his spiked hair again. "You know it sounds like you've got a bad case of the crazies, right?" She sighed.

"Yeah. I guess. That's why I didn't tell anyone," Sarah replied. They'd only been outside the gymnastics studio for thirty minutes, and now that her story was at last out in the open to someone, she was tense. Every muscle in her body was achingly tightened in apprehension of the possible responses her agent, and in a way, her mentor, could have. "Do you think-"

"I don't know what to think, Sarah. I'm not gonna bullshit you. I think you're a pheonomenal actress; you can switch roles and slip into characters like your favorite pair of jeans. You're a great kid, and you work hard. But, I mean, Sarah-" He shook his head, and Sarah felt her resolve slipping. "I need more proof than your word." Everyone's favorite brunette opened the car door as she tried to keep the hurt out of her eyes. Peter was her business representative, but he was also her friend.

"And that's not something I'm ready to give," she said sadly. Sarah got out of the car. "Bye, Peter." She shut the door to the sleek, pretty porsche and walked over to the front of the building.

"Sarah?" Peter's voice stopped Sarah as he rolled down the window. "I- I'll pick you up, okay? That way you won't have to deal with Irene."

_"He's trying..."_ Sarah smiled. "Thanks, Peter, but I think Stephen's gonna pick me up today." She turned around and entered the gym to the sound of Peter's tires screeching off._ "I can't be in a car with him until he's decided whether or not I'm insane."_

"Sarah!" Sarah turned to the right to see her friend with the same name. She was wearing a metallic black leotard with silver velvet from a line below the breasts up.

"Hey, Sarah. I thought we agreed I was Williams," she replied, smilling. _"That leo's new... I want one."_

"Yeah, well, um, Victor's mad that you already missed four hours, so ummm... just hurry up and get to the bars. We'll talk later," she said, her brows knitting together in worry. "He's going to work you so hard today..."

"Damn," Sarah cursed. "Not what I need. Thanks anyway, Sarah!" She hurried past the strawberry blonde to her impending torture. When Victor said he was going to 'work someone hard' it pretty much meant their soul was his. _"Yup. I'm screwed,"_ thought Sarah as she jogged past the first floor and the lower beams to the vault line. Victor stood to the side of the vault, watching one of the level 10s do a double front tuck. _"Natalie? I think?"_

"It took you long enough," Victor said, his accent even thicker in his anger. He was wearing a pair of acid wash jeans and a white t- shirt. Sarah noted, suppressing laughter, that it was tucked in.

"Yeah- I'm-"

"I don't wanna hear excuses," he interrupted with a wave of his hand. "Go practice hip swivels on the net." He pointed to the net, which was a rectangular, extra- bouncy trampoline that was made of crossing ropes instead of threading nylon. It hurt when you landed on your face on the net. Maybe the pain had something to with the holes that your nose could get stuck in? Yeah. That was definitely it.

"Okay," Sarah sighed, suppressing the urge to yell a retort at him. The man was shorter and dumber, but he was in charge and knew more about gymnastics than she did.

She made her way to the net, which stood against the back wall, in the middle. Victor was definitely not pleased. He hadn't given a number of hip swivels to do, which meant that she'd be doing them until he came over to tell her to stop. From the looks of Natalie's double fronts, that would be a while. She sighed as she started on them. _"A long, long while."_

* * *

"Look at it this way, Sarah. If a guy picks up a girl from all her stuff, takes her out to dinner, has _kissed_ her..." 

"I don't care! That doesn't mean people have to start rumors about us! There isn't even an us. And we only kissed in Grease! That doesn't even count!" Sarah shouted, crossing her arms over her chest, well, under her breasts. Sarah looked down, encountering the same problem as earlier. She sighed, clearly aggravated, but Sarah didn't move her arms. She sat there in the passenger seat, seething. "And just who does Nicole Coleman think she is? I barely even know her! I met her like, twice! And both those times she was a complete bitch!" Stephen burst out laughing as he parked into the T.G.I. Friday's curbside ordering. "What?!"

"I don't think I've ever heard you say the word bitch before," he laughed. Sarah blinked twice before a broad grin crept onto her face.

"I guess I've never felt the urge before," she replied, the grin still present. "Hey, isn't this the Friday's Michelle works at?" Stephen grinned.

"She gets off in five."

"Yes!" she exclaimed drawing her fist to her side from the elbow in an "all right" motion. Michelle always cheered Sarah up, and after Victor's extensive work out, that was what Sarah needed. _"Well, a cheering up session and loaded cheese fries..."_ They sat there in silence for a second, but Sarah couldn't stand it. She flicked on the radio, and Stephen let out a yelp.

"I love this song," he intoned loudly. Sarah rolled her eyes as he turned up the radio. She would never understand Stephen's obsession with-

"Oh, hey! I love this song, too!" It was Stephen's turn to roll his eyes as Sarah turned it up even higher.

_"If you see a faded sign at the side of the road,"_ Stephen sang, _"that says fifteen miles to the-"_

_"Looove shack!"_ Sarah cut in. _"Love shack, yeaaahhh."_

They sang all the way until the "bang, bang, bang on the door, baby..." and would've continued had Michelle not banged on the driver's window yelling, "You're scaring the mini-vans out of the families inside! Turn it down!" Stephen and Sarah both grinned as she got in the back seat. "Now, let's get the hell out of here."

"You have the fries?" Sarah narrowed her eyes at her red headed friend. Michelle rolled her blue eyes as she took the to- go box out of her Chanel purse.

"Here you go, Ms. Grateful," she said sarcastically, holding the box just out of Michelle's reach as Stephen put the car in drive.

"Gimme," Sarah commanded.

"Nah ah ah!" Michelle wagged a manicured finger in her face. "What's the magic word?" Sarah pursed her lips and darted forward, leaning out of her chair and capturing the coveted fries.

_"This is what I would miss most Underground,"_ she mused as she chewed a bacon and cheese covered, sour cream dipped fry. _"Hanging with my friends, eating loaded cheese fries from Fridays- all the good stuff."_

"Y'know, obviously Linda didn't teach you enough manners," Michelle pouted. Michelle was the only person Sarah let refer to her mother in such a manner. The ONLY person. Stephen revved up the engine, and they were on their way to 'chill' at Sarah's house.

"Yeah, well, Irene has a way of making one forget that sort of thing," Sarah smiled. Stephen grinned.

"Please, you're a brat purposefully to that woman," he replied.

"Only sometimes!" Sarah mock pouted. "Seriously, though. I used to be such a terror. She hasn't gotten any nicer, though. In fact, she's just gotten worse. I swear, someday I just might drop acting and do something to piss her off- like become a teacher." Michelle, who was drinking a bottle of coke, promptly dispersed it out her nose at that.

"Oh, God, Sarah. Look at what you made me do," she huffed, grabbing napkins from the back pocket of Stephen's seat. "Umm... Stephen, why do you have napkins in the back of your seat?" Stephen looked sheepish, and both the girls burst out laughing.

"Oh my God! I don't see how I didn't notice it before!"

"Me neither!" Sarah chimed.

"God. I never thought in my entire life that I would be friends with a neat freak," Michelle laughed. "Let's see what else you have back here..."

"No!" he shouted, but it only made Sarah and Michelle grin more.

"Oh, goody," Michelle said, sticking her hand into the pocket, "that means there's some real good stu-" She stopped as she took out a crumpled piece of paper. "What is this?" she taunted, knowing full well that he couldn't see it. Stephen paled.

"What?" Michelle unfolded and flattened out the piece of faded notebook paper.

"Oh. My. God." She scanned the paper. "Dear Michelle. I know we're only in third grade-"

Stephen slammed on the brakes, which flung all three of them hard against their seat belts. "No. Do not!"

"Oh! So that's why you wouldn't sit with me at lunch," Michelle laughed. "Classic. Wow. Stephen, that's weird. Why the hell did you keep this?" She was still laughing, and Sarah was in hysterics. She reall just couldn't picture little Stephen thinking he was in love with Michelle.

_"Better her than me,"_ Sarah thought.

"I- I'm sentimental- okay?"

"That's rich. A sentimental neat freak. Who'd have thought? You were gonna ask me to marry you?" Michelle arched a delicately arched eyebrow, and Sarah laughed harder as Stephen turned beet red with blush.

"It was third grade!" he shouted.

"We'll talk about it more at Sarah's. We're only three houses down, so hurry up, dumbass," Michelle laughed. Stephen twisted back around in his seat.

"Fine," he said, letting his foot off the brake and switching over to the gas. "But I- oh, hey. Sarah, isn't that Peter's car?" Sarah looked up to see the porsche parked in her driveway and quickly stashed the fries.

"I'm not supposed to have junk food," she explained. "And yeah..." Sarah's brows knit together in confusion as they pulled up to the curb; then, she remembered their earlier conversation. "I don't think tonight is such a good idea, you guys," Sarah said slowly. Michelle made a loud, disappointed sound, and Stephen sighed just as loudly. "I'm sorry, you guys! Tomorrow night okay with your highnesses?" Stephen brightened, but Michelle shook her head.

"No can do. I close tomorrow. How about the night after?"

"Good for me," Stephen replied.

"Okay. Two nights, then. See ya, then," Sarah got out and shut the door behind her. She ran into the house; the wind was way too cool. What month was it anyway? _"Oh, God. Is it really April already?"_ she thought as she locked the front door behind her. "Peter?" she called out.

"Sarah?" Irene's voice met her ears.

"Yeah?"

"We're in the kitchen." Sarah made her way to the kitchen, where Peter and Irene were seated at the kitchen table. The off- white tile floor was cold underneath Sarah's feet.

"What's up?" Sarah said, looking from her agent to her step mother and back._ "Did he-?"_

"Peter here thinks you've been overworking yourself," Irene said, clearly in disagreement with him. "Are you?" Sarah immediately shook her head.

"No, and, if you don't mind, I'd like to talk to Peter up in my room in a minute," she replied frostily. Before another word could be spoken, she turned on her heel and rushed up to her room.

As Sarah entered her room, she felt the exhaustion from her work out finally set in. Her knees wobbled beneath her as she stumbled to her bed. She breathed in a heavy breath and let her hair down from the ponytail. She quickly peeled off her leotard and felt a tear slip down her cheek. Why was it that everytime she got in this room she missed Jareth like the sun missed the flower during the winter. _"Great, now I'm comparing Jareth to a flower. He's definitely more of an Edward Scissorhands than the flower he crafts,"_ she thought sardonically. Sarah slowly took to her feet and made her way back to her door. She locked it. _"Wouldn't want Peter to walk in on me changing."_

Sarah quickly changed into a knee- length, cordouroy brown skirt and a hook- up, collared, sleeveless blue shirt that gathered in scrunching just below the breasts. She wasn't in the mood for jeans right now. Actually, she wasn't supposed to wear jeans. It wasn't "professional." Those were Peter's words, not hers. Sarah listened for the sound of stairs creaking, but there was nothing. She kneeled on the floor down beside her bed and took out the long forgotten photo album. She took it and sat on her bed, legs crossed beneath her.

The brunette flipped through the pages until she came on one that caught her eye. It was a picture of Sarah at the age of twelve- only five years ago. It was the year before her parents divorced. She was in the park, playing soccer against Linda. Robert was off to the side, being a househusband and making sandwiches. What caught her eye, though, was what was lurking in the background. Sarah gingerly brushed her fingers across the image and felt a tear slip down her cheek. The barnyard owl's eyes were watching her in the picture; she knew it. A knock on the door made Sarah nearly jump out of her skin. _"How long have I been staring at this?" _Sarah quickly stowed the photo album, its pink leather was worn pale with time. Sarah wiped the tears from her eyes and composed herself.

"Come in," she drawled. The door cracked, and Peter's head peeked through.

"Sarah?"

"I said you could come in." He came in, and as soon as the door was shut, the fireworks began. "What the fuck were you thinking? Going to Irene? _Irene? _Jesus, Peter! What is it that you want?" she shouted. Peter visibly flinched. Sarah rarely used the 'f- word,' and she was rarely that angry with anyone. Well, it was rarely that he had seen anyway.

"I want evidence, Sarah. I trust you as much as I can, kid, but I've been too long in this world and this business to _just _go off someone's word," Peter said with a heavy sigh. Sarah's eyes widened in response.

_"He wants... evidence? What?! Does he want me to wish for Jareth to just come?"_ Sarah thought on it for a second, wondering what to do. The second stretched into minutes.

"Sarah?"

"I'm thinking," she replied. "Look, I can't- I can't call him. You have to wish someone away." Peter's stare at her was hard and focused. He looked like someone who had to do something they really didn't want to do.

"Then, there's only thing left for me to do, Sarah."

"What?" she snapped.

"Tell Irene." Sarah sprang up.

"You can't, Peter!" she cried out. She grabbed his arms and clenched her hands tightly. "You cannot," she hissed, "tell Irene. She will send me to a mental hospital."

Peter looked away; the hurt and betrayal in her eyes was too much. "Maybe that's what you need," he whispered. Sarah let go and backed up.

"Oh, God. You can't," she whispered. Sarah's heart was going a million miles a minute. She'd never really known the meaning of knee- buckling fear before; she'd thought what had happened with Jareth on their first encounter was it. What she was going through now erased any thoughts of that. This was something she was afraid of. "You can't, Peter."

"I have to," he replied, turning and grabbing the door handle. "I don't have a choice, Sara-."

* * *

Jareth was sitting in his study when he felt the strangest, most awful sensation. He sat up. 

"What is it, Your Majesty?" asked Sir Didymus, who was helping Jareth with some paperwork for the outlying provinces of the Goblin Kingdom.

"Sarah," he said vaguely. He was concentrating on the string that Sarah had, in some distress, flung out to him. His eyes widened. "She's afraid." He stood up and stared at Didymus sharply. "Take care of things while I'm gone." He plucked a crystal from the air. _"She's so afraid. My Sarah... something's wrong."_ He dropped the crystal at his feet. _"She's terrified."_

Jareth appeared in white tights, white thigh- high boots, white poet's shirt, and a navy blue leather jacket. Sarah's back was right before him, and some man in front of her near the door was just finishing saying her name. He could taste the fear coming off of Sarah like a tangible scent.

"Oh, my God," the man gasped. "He just appeared out of-" Sarah turned around to see him, and when their eyes met, neither could look away. Neither Jareth nor Sarah could no longer hear whatever Peter was saying. Jareth stilled so that he was like living marble; Sarah felt her heart jump into her throat. Here she had been, scared out of her mind that she would go to a mental hospital because she refused to call Jareth. She wouldn't ask him to appear to save her and then just leave, but here he was.

"Sarah," he breathed, breaking the silence between them. His hands came up to her face, and he tenderly wiped the tears away with his thumbs. Sarah's hands came up and rested on his, and she just broke down. He circled his arms about her, drawing her into his embrace. Sarah returned the embrace.

"This is-?" Both Sarah and Jareth turned sharply to look at Peter. Of course, to Jareth, he was just the man making Sarah so afraid.

"You will leave," he said coldly, "_now._"

"Yes," Peter said, quickly exiting the room. Sarah looked back to Jareth. He had known what was wrong so quickly... When she was afraid, so afraid, he'd come. He actually came.

"Jareth," she whispered, head craned back to look up at him in all his Fae glory.

"Yes?" he said, returning his gaze to her. Her eyes were puffy, her nose red, and tear stains were clear on her face, but she'd never looked more beautiful to him. _"How long has it been?"_

"I- there's so much I want to say," she whispered. Jareth brought his encircling arms down to her lower back, forcing her closer against him and making her lips look even more tempting. He brought his face closer to hers, their lips inches away.

"Then say it, Sarah," he replied. God, she loved the way he said her name. The sound of the handle twisting brought both their worlds to a crashing halt. Before the light from the hall could flood the dark room, Jareth was gone. Sarah looked at Irene.

"Why can't you learn to leave me alone?" she said.

"Sarah. I don't know what you said to Peter to make him leave like that, but you will not take that tone with me-"

"LEAVE! ME! ALONE!" she screeched. "YOU'RE NOT MY MOTHER!"

Irene stumbled back into the hall. The pure look of raw pain on her face was too much; it seemed like no one should see it. Sarah stomped over and slammed the door shut. Jareth wouldn't come back. She knew it, but now, it was time for her to move on. She pulled out the photo album and looked at the picture of her and Linda playing soccer. _"I can't stay here anymore,"_ she thought. She pulled out a tote bag. "_I'm going to come after you, Mom."_ She looked at the open window, where she had once come to love to see a barn owl waiting for her._ "I'm coming after you."_

* * *

OMG! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!!! Oh, God. Thank you so much for the 4,000 hits! I can't even say how ecstatic I am! And FIFTY ONE reviews?!?! Thank you!!!!! Seriously. I mean, I don't write for reviews, but that doesn't mean that they don't make me happy. What writer doesn't like getting positive feeback? And- omg! If you haven't seen Dreamgirls- go. I don't care if you don't review my fic cuz you're seeing it, just go. It's amazing. I cried. 


	8. Chapter 8

**For Keeps**

Sarah's been out of the Labyrinth for 6 month, and her seemingly instant maturity hasn't gone unnoticed. When Jareth shows up, seeking to understand how she beat him, things progress down a path neither could have anticipated. JS

**Disclaimer- All Standard Disclaimers Apply  
Oh yeah. But as an extra- dances around I now officially own the Dreamgirls soundtrack! dances some more  
It's awesome. Go see the movie.**

Chapter Eight:

* * *

The woman next to Sarah on the Southwest Airlines flight was snoring loudly, but Sarah was thinking what she would say to her mom, Linda. How long had it been since she'd last seen her? Sarah thought about it. The last time she had seen her mom was two years before the whole Labyrinth incident. She had spent two weeks in Linda's apartment and had only ended up actually spending four waking hours with her. She'd been busy off filming some movie or another that never made it big at the box office. Her mother's career hadn't taken off the way she and Linda had expected it to. Was it different now? 

"_Oh, Mom, what do I say? What can I say? 'Hey, Linda. It's me, your daughter Sarah. Sorry to show up out of the blue like this, but it's been three years. So, I figured it was time that I come and tell you that I met the Goblin King, and I love him. He held me, and I'm really confused about his feelings for me. Care to explain?' No. I don't think so,"_ Sarah thought, massaging her temples tiredly while leaning forward on the little tray that extended off the chair in front of her on the plane. She'd withdrawn all her money from the fit modeling she'd done three months back and all her commercial money. Sarah was now holding about three hundred dollars cash on her and a bunch of traveler's checks. She wasn't sure how much money that came to all together, but she was betting it was quite a bit. The bank had luckily been open late. Well, it was open as late as banks can be.

"_Bringing all this money probably wasn't that smart…"_ she stared down at the floor. She was still wearing her brown skirt and blue shirt from earlier. The only thing that had changed was that her hair was now hanging down, nice and straight. Sarah looked down at herself and gave a heavy sigh. _"God, Mom. There's so much I needed you here for. Why weren't you in my life more? There were so many questions I had- still so many questions, and I can't ask Dad any of them. Irene-"_ She curled her hands into fists tightly, leaning back into the seat and forcing herself to remain calm. _"Irene doesn't understand anything."_

"Excuse me, darlin'. Is there anything Ah can get ya?" asked a cheery, blonde flight attendant in a royal blue uniform blazer and skirt with a white blouse underneath. Sarah looked up at her, startled by her sudden appearance and deep, Southern accent. The woman reminded Sarah of a Barbie doll; she was buxom and had legs that seemed to run on forever and ever. Barbie with a Southern accent was a scary thing on a redeye flight.

"Um… Can I have water and coffee, please?" Sarah asked, putting on her best 'I'm innocent and cute' face. She hoped Barbie would fall for it.

"Of course, sugar," she replied. "What about ya granmah?" Sarah was about to protest that the woman on the redeye next to her was not, in fact, her grandma, but she caught herself.

"I think she's just fine as is. I guess a water would be a safe bet, though," she replied sweetly, as if she had known the elderly, sleeping woman her entire life.

"Sure thang, sweetie," she replied. "Ah'll get ya it in a hot second." Then, she'd taken her little notepad and was off to the next row. Sarah let out a sigh.

"_I need to get a story together, I guess,"_ she thought, thinking how much she hated everything for a moment. Life was seldom fair, though. Jareth had taught her that, whether he meant to or not. Sarah checked her watch and groaned. _"Two more hours. Two more hours," _she chanted inwardly._ "God, let me come up with something in two hours."_ Sarah closed her eyes for a moment. _"Please, let this flight fly by quickly."_ She wrinkled her nose._ "Pun not intended."_

Sarah flipped through the magazine that Southwest had so generously provided. _"_Ye_ah. They should give us something. These peanuts suck."_ She looked at the pages but didn't see anything on the pages. All she saw was Jareth's face so close to hers; it was so gorgeous and tempting. It was everything that she thought her first kiss would be like if Stephen hadn't made that stupid, stupid move on her. "_Damn it, Stephen. You ruined that for me."_ Sarah smiled sadly. "_And I'll never get a chance to have that perfect one I want so badly."_

* * *

Sarah found her way around the airport, picked up her suit case, and had hailed a taxi with success. Now, she was just told it was two minutes until her destination- Linda's house. Sarah hadn't even been to her mom's new place. Her old apartment had been clean and nice, but it hadn't been super fancy. She wondered what this new place would be like. She looked out the window. House after house passed by; each was more grandiose than the last. 

"_Well, shit. Mom moved up in the world,"_ she thought, smiling to herself. Suddenly, the taxi cab came to a stop, and Sarah found herself blinking at empty air where the door had been. The taxi driver held it open.

"Come on. Haven't got all day." Sarah looked around as she stepped out. They were outside a huge manor. In fact, they were right next to the huge, wrought- iron gate that allowed access through a large, exterior wall. The taxi driver, an older, dark skinned man with white hair and large, brown eyes, ran to the trunk and pulled out her suit case and tote. "Here you go," he said handing them to her. "The total is fifty six dollars, eighty three cents."

Sarah's mouth gaped open. "That much?" she blurted before she could stop herself. His eyes narrowed.

"What? You don't have the money?"

Sarah shook herself from her stupor. "No, I've got it." She dug around in her tote and handed him three twenty dollar bills and one ten. "Keep the change," she said, turning to face the gate. There was a small intercom sticking out of the wall. She walked up to it, pulling her wheeled suit case behind her. "Here goes nothing," she murmured under her breath as she listened to the cab speed away. She pressed the intercom and waited.

"Hello?"

"Linda?" Sarah asked tentatively. This woman's voice did NOT sound like her mother's.

"No. I'm sorry. Who is this?" the woman replied, not really sounding sorry at all.

"I- I'm Sarah."

"Sarah who?" she asked, as if she didn't really care. That just pissed Sarah off.

"Sarah Williams- her daughter," she replied haughtily. The sound of someone falling off a chair was heard through the intercom and then silence. Suddenly, the gates opened, and a woman with tawny skin and streaming, ebony hair was running down the driveway. Sarah's face broke out in a smile, and anything she had planned to say was gone.

"Sarah!" The said brunette ran up the drive, her bags dropped and forgotten.

"Mom!" she cried out. The two met and embraced. Linda held her out and arm's distance and looked her up and down.

"God, how you've grown," she murmured before hugging her again. Sarah didn't know exactly why, but she started crying. Linda stroked her hair. "Oh, sweetie, it's okay. Mom's here. I love you. It's okay." A man, who Sarah hadn't noticed, stood to Linda's side. He was in a black suit and tie with large black sunglasses and looked to be of Mexican ethnicity. Linda mouthed to him to go take care of Sarah's bags. "Come on," she murmured in Sarah's ear. "Let's go get some hot chocolate, and you can tell me everything that's been happening."

Sarah nodded up and down. Her mother was just like she remembered- beautiful and caring down to the last molecule. She even had the same sing- song contralto that just made everything better, and, Sarah was sure, made the men fall over themselves. "I'd like that, Mom. There's so much I have to tell you."

Linda laughed. "Hot chocolate first. Stories after."

Sarah smiled, too. _"Hot chocolate and stories- it's like nothing's changed." _Sarah looked down at herself as her mother led her back to the huge, white washed manor. _"Except me." _She felt something ache in the core of her. _"Oh, Jareth. How you've turned my world."_

The room they were seated in was practically cavernous. Large tapestries and all manner of draperies hung off the white walls. The main theme in the room, however, seemed to be cream, black, and pale pink. Sarah sat deep in a large, soft, cream colored recliner with a black cup of hot chocolate in her hand. Whipped cream was still intact on the top of it. It was a trick her mother had taught her what seemed ages ago. Linda, sitting across from Sarah in the same style of chair, only a pale pink instead of cream, had a similarly intact whipped cream mountain atop her hot chocolate.

"So, tell me everything," Linda said, her hazel eyes alight with curiosity. Her daughter had just randomly shown up, and she was vastly curious as to why. She was happy because she loved Sarah more than anything and highly disagreed with the divorce agreement, but Sarah was what had come first. Robert's lifestyle had just been more appropriate for Sarah. Now, well, looking at her daughter, she wasn't so sure that was such a smart choice.

"Um… I did a bunch of fit modeling three months ago; I just finished starring in Grease at school; I'm filming some gymnastics movie. They've put me through hell in this boot camp, and I ran away because I hate Irene," she said the last bit very fast, and Linda mock frowned.

"That's so great! But- Sarah, that wasn't very nice. Just because the woman resembles the White Witch doesn't mean we have to talk about her behind her back that way. We should talk about her to her face that way," she grinned. Sarah couldn't help but grin back. "But, seriously. Why did you run away? Did she do anything specific?"

Sarah sighed. How had they come to this part so quickly. "Umm… well, she was going to put me in a psych ward-"

"What?!" Linda shouted. "Why?" Sarah noticed the way her mother's right hand had clenched, nails digging into the palm. She was infuriated, and it showed.

"Well," Sarah took a deep breath. "You remember that book you used to read to me?"

"Which one? There were a lot," she said through gritted teeth.

"_Yup. Mom's very mad."_ Sarah took another deep breath. "The Labyrinth." Linda had a sharp intake of air that sounded very much like a gasp.

"Yes. Sarah- you didn't- did you?"

Sarah leaned forward in her chair, setting down her hot chocolate on a black marble coffee table to the right of her. This was what she had thought when she had looked at that old photo album. "Didn't what, Mom?"

"Ca-"

"Madam!" Both brunettes turned their heads sharply to look at the tall Mexican man, the one who had brought in Sarah's bags. He stood in the hall connecting the large lounge to the main hall.

"What?" Linda snapped.

"A Mr. Depp?" he said, his accent was deeply British. Sarah briefly wondered why the hell a Mexican would have a British accent but couldn't really ponder the thought as the realization the he just said 'Depp' struck her. It was extremely odd, though.

"Damn," Linda cursed, momentarily forgetting her flawless composure. She turned back to Sarah with some sort of apologetic glint in her eyes. "Could we put this on hold? I forgot I had a stupid dinner date." Sarah looked at her mother like she was crazy.

"It's Johnny," she replied, "just go." Sarah was a little put out that they were interrupted. She shot the Mexican a glare that didn't really do much; his back was turned as he escorted her mother back to the Main Hall. _"Damn."_ She looked around. _"Mom reeeeally moved up in class."_

* * *

Sarah stared up at the canopy above her. The Mexican, whose name she had learned was "John," had shown her to her room. It was more like a deluxe room at the Hilton, but Sarah was blind to its opulence. Snow white, navy blue, and royal blue decorated the room like a flurry of cresting waves. The pillows were snow white and navy blue, while the comforter, a nice silk one, was royal blue. Sarah didn't even bother looking at the sheets; she hated them and wouldn't be sleeping under them. Too much fabric to be sleeping under. The canopy above her four post bed was snow white, too. Sarah blinked. _"So….bright."_

She turned over onto her stomach and felt a tear slip down her cheek. _"No. Damn it. I won't cry. I won't cry_." She felt herself already letting go, though, thinking on what Irene had just ruined. Jareth had been holding her- no, _embracing_ her. She'd been held, hugged, embraced, but she'd never had anyone hold her like that. That was a lover's embrace. Sarah felt the tears coming down hotter. The way his lips had been so close to hers, the feel of his body against hers. Something low in her body tightened achingly, and Sarah cried into her pillows. _"I want you, Jareth. I want you so bad it hurts."_

She snuggled beneath the covers; the sun was only just setting. The lights were off in her room, but she might as well have been in pure darkness. _"Wherever you are, Jareth, I- I love you. I love you so much." _She dug her nails into her palms like her mother had. _"And someday, I'll have to know, do you love me, too?"_

She tried to choke back a sob, but it came out anyway. Sarah cried herself to sleep before Linda came home at ten. Linda knew, though, that the tear stains on Sarah's face weren't from homesickness; they were from heartbreak. She'd cried those same ones over her divorce with Robert.

He'd had Sarah believe that she had chosen her career over them. In a way, she had. But she'd never for a second wanted to hurt Sarah. She loved her girl more than anything. It was so complicated. She hoped it wasn't too late to reverse the damage done. Really, though, there was nothing she could do. It was all up to Sarah to move the relationship. She wouldn't force anything; that was what had lost her Sarah in the first place. Linda kissed the young woman on the forehead before smoothing back her long hair, so much like Linda's own. Sarah looked so much like her, but she had her grandmother's eyes. Linda stepped out of the room, thinking of how her daughter's emerald eyes had looked when she'd run up to her.

_"So... bright, Sarah. So bright."_

She made her way back to her own room and changed into her bedclothes. _"Someone broke her heart. When I find out who... well, he'll regret it."_ She slipped under the covers. _"He'll definitely regret it."_

* * *

"SARAH!" Sarah turned onto her stomach, despite the weight of her mother on top of her. "GET UP! We're having chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast!" Sarah sat up. Her deep forest green, silken pajamas, which she couldn't recall changing into, were soft against her skin. Sarah knew her make up from yesterday was smeared. 

"With no syrup?" she asked hopefully.

"No syrup." Both grinned.

"Yes!" Sarah scrambled out of bed, messily putting her hair up into a bun. Linda stayed in the room, knowing Sarah didn't know her way around the new place. Sarah ran into the bathroom, and after a minute, she was out again. Her face was washed, and all the make up from the night before was gone.

"All right. Last one there has to make them," Linda shouted before running off out of the room.

"That's not fa-" Sarah stopped, realizing what she was about to say as she took off after mother. Life was seldom fair, so you just had to deal. _"And kick it in the butt."_

They both seated themselves down to large stacks of a half dozen pancakes. Linda, after consuming her part, looked carefully at her daughter. She had her face stuffed with the goodness of chocolate chip pancakes without syrup, and she never looked more amazing.

"Sarah," her mother began, getting an odd glint in her eye. 'How... energized do you feel?'

Sarah looked up from her last pancake and stared at her mother, realization slowly sinking in. "Energized enough to go-"

"Shopping!" Linda finished her daughter's sentence. Sarah practically inhaled the rest of her last chocolate chip pancake before jumping up from her seat. Linda was already grabbing the plates and setting them in the sink.

"Quick. Go find something cute that you can change in and out of easily- like a sun dress," Linda said. She rubbed her hands on a towel and looked up to see Sarah was already running off to her room, heels flailing behind her._ "Some good, ol' bonding and maybe she'll come out of her shell and tell me what happened... Who broke her heart?"_

* * *

"What about his one?" Linda held up a dark blue dress. It had an appealing cut, but Sarah shook her head. "Why not?" 

"Because-" Sarah thought for a moment, "because it's just not me." Linda rolled her eyes. Sarah was still a dreaming idealist.

"A dress is a dress is a dress is a dress," she chanted, sadly putting it back on the rack.

"Now, this one," Sarah said, taking off a pale pink dress, "is me." Linda turned to look at it. It would come to about mid thigh and was definitely one of those dresses that clung and hugged every curve. It was a little too low cut, but if Sarah liked it... Linda sighed.

"Go try it on," she said with a wave of her hand. Sarah jumped in the air and clicked her heels twice. Linda briefly wondered how that was even possible when most people could barely get one click before going off in different thoughts. Sarah came down from the air feeling a little bit more lifted than the previous night. How her mother could make her so happy when she was feeling so miserable was something that had always amazed Sarah. She ran into the changing room of Neiman Marcus and slipped out of her white sun dress and into the pale pink Prada dress. She emerged, and Linda whistled. "Oh, my God. That is amazing," she cooed, making Sarah turn around. "You're never wearing it in the day time," she said, pushing Sarah back into the dressing room. The sixteen and half year old nearly tripped in her white stilettos. These four inch heels were not made for shopping, but they were just so cute, much like the dress.

"So I can get it?" she said, excitedly.

"Yes, yes," Linda waved her hand. "Now, come on. We need to get you something less clubbing and more formal."

"How many dresses can we buy?" Sarah asked as she shut the door.

"As many as I say," Linda called back, "which is as many as you want."

Sarah squealed inside the dressing room as she changed back into the knee- length, snow white sun dress. "Hey, Mom?" Linda was smiling on the other side of door.

"Hm?" She closed her eyes. _"This moment couldn't get any better."_

"I love you."

"I love you, too."

Sarah emerged, holding the pink dress on a hanger. Linda held half a dozen other dresses; they were slung lazily over one arm. "God. I wish these fancy department stores would have shopping carts." Sarah let out a laugh.

"I hardly think that Neiman Marcus feels having shopping carts like Target is hardly upscale," Sarah replied. Linda started to say something, but Sarah completely zoned out. The dress on the wall across the store was calling her name. _"Seriously, it's- it really can't be,"_ she thought, moving past her mother.

"Sarah? What are you-" Linda turned around and saw what had caught her daughter's eye. "Oh." Her eyes widened in awe, too. There was only one left on the wall, and somehow, Linda doubted it had been there a few moments ago.

Sarah stood in front of the silvery white, full- skirted dress with puffed sleeves from the shoulder to elbow. She touched the material, daring not even to take in a full breath for fear that it would disappear. She jumped back, though, upon feeling the soft silk._ "Just like I remember..."_

"Mom!" She turned around. "I have to-" Her mother was pointing at the dress and talking to a salesperson, who was coming their way.

"It's already yours, Sarah," she replied with a smile._ "You look like you belong to it..."_

* * *

"So..." Linda began as they dug into their 'Asian mall food.' Sarah had coined the phrase when she was six. 

"So?" Sarah replied, taking a bite of the teriyaki chicken and chow mein. Linda shoved her face with as much food as she could before speaking.

"Sho- I notished you'd beern crying lasht night, and thoshe are definiterly the tearsh of heartbreak- sho," she gulped down some iced tea, "wanna tell me about it?" Sarah choked on her food, miraculously able to discern every word her mother had said, and had to swallow down some of her iced tea, too.

"What?" Linda started to take another bite but Sarah stopped her.

"No- no. I heard. I just- how?"

"How what?"

"How'd you know?" she said quietly, suddenly feeling very alone in this huge food court. Linda looked at her daughter as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Sarah was staring down at her food, suddenly finding it to be terribly interesting.

"I'm your mother. It's my job to know these things," she replied. Sarah looked up at her sharply.

"You haven't been around to be my mother for three years, Mom. Three years!" Sarah said, her voice rising in volume. Linda winced. She should've known that this would come up.

"Look, Sarah. I would've loved to-"

"Don't lie. Dad told me-"

"Robert lied, Sarah," Linda shouted. Sarah looked startled, and Linda quickly calmed herself down. She didn't need the tabloids running images of her shouting at a teenage girl. "I was only allowed to see you for two to three weeks in the summer, and that was only if you called about it first. That's the court order." Sarah's face dropped.

"He-" Sarah looked back down. She thought on all the times that she had wanted to call Linda, but Irene and Robert had always found excuses to be on the phone. Something about flowers, or Toby, or the doctor, or Aunt Margaret- did they even have an Aunt Margaret? "Oh, God. You're right, Mom. I'm so sorry- for thinking that all this time, it was-" Linda was already up and hugging Sarah. Tears had begun to well up in her eyes.

"Shhh. It's okay, Sarah." She stroked her hair. "It's okay." When Sarah felt the tears had significantly receded, Linda sat on the chair next to her. "It's fine, Sarah. Now, tell me, who is this guy?"

_"And the tears are back." _Sarah looked up, trying to blink them back. It wasn't fair. How come just the mere thought of Jareth reduced her to a blubbering idiot? Sarah looked up at her mother, feeling like there was nowhere to go. "_But this was the reason I came to her, right? For answers? For the things that only she can tell me? For woman to woman stuff?" _Sarah thought. She breathed in through her nose, trying to regain her composure.

"Well, Mom. You remember what I was talking about last night, right?" Linda nodded eagerly. "Well, it's him." Linda's eyes widened.

"Sarah- you didn't! You didn't actually call on the Goblin King, did you?" Linda asked, looking astonished.

"You believe me?" Sarah looked even more astonished. "Did you wish away someone, too?" Linda laughed.

"No. I definitely did not." Sarah suddenly steeled herself up for something like "Oh, my God, Sarah. You actually think you ran the Labyrinth?" or "You do belong in a psych ward," but none of that ever came. "No," Linda said, coming down from her laughter, "I got wished away."

"You got wished away?" Sarah's mouth gaped open. "By who? Was it Uncle Tommy?"

"No," she laughed. "Aunt Maggie." Linda's side of the family was HUGE. She had twelve other siblings; that made a total of thirteen children.

"Mom, you're not doing this to be funny or something, are you? You're not pulling my leg? Trying to trick me like that time you told me that vinegar stuff was chocolate pudding and then laughed at the face I made when I took a bite?" Sarah asked, feeling a strange panic rise up in her. Linda was taking this way too easily.

"No, honey. You should know, once you've been in the Labyrinth, nothing's really as it seems, except when it comes to those who love you. We're what we seem, most of the time." Sarah looked at her mother.

"Did Aunt Maggie love Jareth?" Linda snorted at that.

"She fancied herself with him, but it was obvious he didn't feel the same way for that cow," she replied.

"Mom!" Sarah gasped in shock. "That's a terrible thing to say."

"What? It's true," she replied as she settled back into her previous seat and sipped her iced tea.

"Still," Sarah replied. Linda raised an eyebrow at her daughter.

"You don't-" she stopped speaking as she thought on what she was going to say. "You don't love the Goblin King, do you?"

"I do," Sarah replied without a moment's hesitancy. "I honestly do."

"Sarah, you met him what? Once? That's not-"

"I've been seeing him for over a month," Sarah interrupted. "He came to me six months after I'd defeated him in the Labyrinth-"

"You won?"

"Yeah. Aunt Maggie obviously did, too. Any-"

"Aunt Maggie did no such thing. The time ran out, but she refused to give up. She offered herself in place of me, and Jareth let us both go, looking disgusted by her the entire time, too," Linda cut in.

"He's not as cruel as the story makes out," Sarah stated. "Anyway- I wished for him to take Toby away one night, and the goblins did come. Then, he did. He offered me my dreams." Linda nodded. "I refused, asking for Toby back. He told me I had to run the Labyrinth." Linda nodded again. "I did, and I won. The only real obstacles were the oubliette-"

"That's where Maggie got stopped," Linda said, nodding again.

"-and the ballroom." Linda stopped nodding.

"Ballroom?"

"Yeah. Hoggle, a dwarf, gave me a peach that Jareth had enchanted. It was supposed to bring my dream- my fantasy- to life. We ended up in a ball room... dancing while he sang to me..." Sarah trailed off at the look on Linda's face. "Didn't that happen to Aunt Maggie?"

"No. Most definitely not. She would've been in heaven," Linda replied firmly. "Sarah- I-" She stopped and finished the last bite of her food. "Let's talk about this at home."

Sarah looked down at her food; half remained untouched. _"I _s_uddenly lost my appetite." _She looked up at her mother. How could she just explain that she'd fallen in love with him when she'd only just found out the day before. _"That's not true," _Sarah touched her cheek where so many a tear had fallen over the Goblin King._ "I've known. I've just been in denial."_ She looked back up at her mom. "Okay." She sighed and got up. "Okay," she repeated, more to herself than to Linda.

* * *

I don't know... It's awfully short... I'm sorry. cringes However, I'd like you all to meet/ thank my wonderful beta. I am new to having a beta. So... it should be... interesting to say the least. She's amazing actually. You all should hail her. HAIL. Why? Because I said so. Oh, yeah. 64 reviews for nearly 5,000 hits? You guys are amazing, really. Thank you so much. Again, though, the reminder that I don't get motivation from your reviews, but I do get a bigger egos and feel a warm, fuzzy spot from them. 


	9. Chapter 9

**For Keeps**

Sarah's been out of the Labyrinth for 6 months, and her seemingly instant maturity hasn't gone unnoticed. When Jareth shows up, seeking to understand how she beat him, things progress down a path neither could have anticipated. JS

**Disclaimer- All Standard Disclaimers Apply**

Chapter Nine:

* * *

"Well, Sarah, I really don't know how to respond to this," Linda began as she put all of Sarah's new clothes away. "It's just so weird." 

"What's so weird about it?" Sarah demanded from where she was seated on the bed. Her legs were crossed under her. She knew exactly what was weird about it. _"He's older than both my parents combined, is a different species entirely, and looks hot in skin tight pants."_

"Well, there're a few things. One, he's older than me. Two, he's Fae. Three, he wears pants that look poured on," Linda counted off on her fingers before taking the pale pink dress out of a shopping bag. Sarah's eyebrow twitched.

_"That's exactly what I was thinking..."_ Sarah shifted uncomfortably on her bed. "I know, Mom, but I can't explain it. I don't know if it's magic or what, but somehow, I fell in love with him. A month really isn't that much time to get to know somebody, but we spent hours every night doing just that. If that wasn't enough to at least develop a friendship, there was the Labyrinth. We weren't exactly strangers to one another after that. God, Mom! I danced with him! Close, swirling, slow dancing. If that wasn't enough, there was always... tension between us. In the alleyway after Hoggle got me out of the oubliette, there was... He was there, and there was a spark- chemistry. The very air between us seemed hotter, and he was always so close," Sarah explained, gathering more steam as she went on, like the little engine. "He... he makes me ache, body, heart, mind, and soul." Sarah rolled her eyes.

"That's lust and a crush, Sarah," Linda said, trying her best not to believe that her little girl was in love the Goblin King. She'd met him. _"Hell. We played 'Chutes and Ladders while waiting for Maggie to give up."_ It was just weird to think of her daughter with him. "Sarah, I'm just saying that maybe you're only infatuated with him. Love takes a lot longer to bond and form."

"You know that I know that, don't you? I know it sounds crazy. Things with Jareth seldom are normal, but when I'm with him, Mom... He makes my heart speed up and calms me down at the same time. He does things to me with just the sound of his voice that no one's ever done to me..." She trailed off and bit her lip. "It's not just lust, Mom. It's more. It's definitely more. He's the reason I cry myself to sleep every night..." Tears welled up in Sarah's eyes. "He's the reason I can't be with him..." Linda looked confused and was slightly miffed at her daughter's display of attitude.

"Sarah, how does that make any sense?" she questioned. Before Sarah could respond, she shook her head and put a hand over her eyes. "Tell me everything from the beginning."

"Everything? Labyrinth included?"

"Yep. Labyrinth included," Linda replied, dragging the hand over her eyes down her face. She put away the last of the clothes and sat on the other side of Sarah's bed. "Start talking." Sarah took a deep breath.

_"We're gonna be up all night..."_ she thought. "It had been a really hard day at school…"

"Wait," Linda interrupted. "I need some popcorn or chocolate or something. This is going to be way too long a story to listen to without some munchies." She jumped off the bed and ran to the kitchen, leaving Sarah alone to think of the next few moments of the story by herself.

_"Jareth... Oh, Jareth. Do you love me? You asked me to love you; does that mean you feel the same way? I wish you were here,"_ she looked out the window on the wall to the left of her bed. "When it's you, though, **only **you that I want, wishing just isn't enough..."

"Jareth and I had finally become comfortable with each other. I mean, we bantered instead of outright fighting. It wasn't long after that..." Sarah trailed off as she looked out the window again. "I guess I just didn't realize that anything could go wrong with the way things were. I thought they'd stay that way forever." Sarah looked back to her mother, who was thoughtfully munching on some cookies. Linda held one out to her, and Sarah simply stared at it before continuing. "I thought that whatever we had would keep us as we were, like a fire within me. God. It's like, the world around me just felt dead. I didn't care about anything else going on. It all just seemed so boring, like my soul was being slowly sucked out of me." Linda rolled her eyes. "It's true. In my room, I knew we were alive. It was like, I could survive anything, ANYTHING as long as he was there at the end of the day. It was like nothing was too painful to survive." Sarah shook her head. "It sounds ridiculous, but it's true."

"Look, Sarah. I don't mean to be raining all over your parade, but honestly. Don't you think that's a bit dramatic?" Sarah just gave her mother one of those 'oh, really?' stares that teenagers do so well.

"It does, but it's how I feel," she said with a shrug that didn't seem to have any energy to it. "Feelings are seldom logical."

"Kinda like 'Chutes and Ladders..." Linda trailed off, and Sarah gave her an odd look. Linda simply shook it off. "Continue." She shoved the cookie she had held out to Sarah in her mouth.

"I don't even wanna know how you do that so easily," Sarah said with one of those awkward shudders one gets when getting disturbing images of one's parent. "But um- Jareth and I used to just hang out in my room, talking about everything and nothing. As soon as I got in my room he'd be there. Well, sometimes he didn't appear for few minutes, but he was always there. He used to tell me stories of the Fae; y'know, basic history and some of their abilities. I would tell him some stories, too, but I don't think they were as good. I mean, they were just stuff I had written for English class. I think he just said he enjoyed them to make me happy... Oh! One night, when I had fallen asleep, I never told him that I woke up when he tucked me in. He even used a crystal to put me into my pajamas. I think he kissed me on the forehead, too."

Sarah touched her forehead with that statement and felt her heart flutter for a moment. She closed her eyes and tried to concentrate on continuing her story. "Anyway, a few nights we didn't even talk. We just sat doing work. I'd do homework, and he'd do paperwork, being a Goblin King and all. Anyway, things just progressed to that point where I was comfortable with him and even missed him during the day when I was at school." Sarah's eyes widened. _"Oh, God. I was in love with him even then, and I didn't realize it..."_

* * *

"So then, I told him that there were so many things I wanted to say. He told me to say them, but Irene-" Sarah screamed her frustration into a pillow that had been placed into her lap as a comfort object. It was a very soft comfort object. She lowered the pillow. "Irene came in; Jareth disappeared. Then I screamed at her to leave me alone. She said don't take a tone with her and that she wouldn't tolerate my behavior or whatever. I screamed that she wasn't you, and then, I slammed the door in her face. Then, I got the idea to come here." 

"So, what? You went to the bank and got money?" Linda asked, thoroughly amazed with how well Sarah was coping with everything.

"Yeah. Right after. I had Stephen pick me up; they hadn't wandered too far away. I just climbed out my window-"

"Your window?"

"Yeah," Sarah continued. "Anyway, we ran by the bank, and I withdrew all my money, pretty much wiping my account clean. Then, he dropped me off at the airport, and came here in a cab." There was silence between them for a few minutes. Linda laid sprawled out on the end of Sarah's bed with a half empty tin that once held forty eight chocolate chip cookies. Sarah still sat with her legs crossed under her on the left side of the bed, near the window. Linda slowly sat up, digesting all the information Sarah had given her- along with the twenty four cookies she'd eaten by herself.

"Sarah," Linda said slowly. "Holy. Crap." Sarah laughed weakly, feeling more at ease now that it was all out and that Linda had spoken. When she'd told Peter, he'd been so... not understanding.

"Yeah," she put a hand behind her neck. "I know."

"You still didn't answer my question," Linda said, mimicking Sarah's criss-crossed position. Sarah cocked her head to the side.

"I'm sorry. I just gave a long, detailed story. I really don't remember which or what question I haven't answered," she said, feeling a tad bit cocky. Linda rolled her eyes and gave her daughter a light slap on the back of the skull.

"Don't be prissy with me. Anyway, I meant that you didn't answer my whole 'it doesn't make any sense that Jareth's the reason you can't be with him' thing," she replied. Sarah's hand went to the back of her head. It hadn't hurt, but she hadn't expected it.

"_Note to self: don't make Mom mad,"_ she thought. She knew Linda would never hurt her. She'd been spanked as a kid when she was acting like a brat. Maybe that was why she'd gotten so bad when Linda left. There was no one to discipline her. Sarah concentrated on the question at hand. How could she tell Linda what she meant to say without sounding like an idiot? "Well," she said slowly, "Jareth is King of the Goblins-"

"No, really? I hadn't noticed." Sarah rolled her eyes at her mother's sarcasm.

"He's worked hard for that. I won't let him tear the entire Goblin Kingdom apart if he ever returned my feelings," she said.

"Oh, he returns them," Linda said, sounding quite smug in her knowledge.

"How do you know?"

"Sarah, men, Goblin King or not, do NOT spend time with women simply talking for hours on end every night for the sake of friendship or understanding. They also don't hold you close to them like... what was it you said? Oh, yes- 'like his arms would protect me from all the bad things that cause tears.'" Linda said, mocking her daughter's drama queen attitude. Sarah laughed weakly. "I have male friends, bodyguards, trainers- none of them hold you and put their hands beneath your chin, tempting you, Sarah, without wanting more than friendship," Linda said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Even gays aren't that touchy- feely, and they don't even have to worry about misinterpreted signals."

"Oh," Sarah responded, not being able to come up with anything else. She wasn't sure if she really believed Linda. She didn't even dare to hope that Jareth returned feelings for her, even if she was quite aware in the back of her mind that she did hope. "Even if he does, we can't be together."

"Why not?"

"Because!" Sarah threw her hands up. "Neither goblin, nor Fae subject, nor any other subject would ever cooperate with a human queen! There would be civil war, chaos, and who knows? Maybe it would be the chance an unhappy noble is looking for to hire an assassin?" She shook her head. "I won't have the destruction of the Goblin Kingdom on my hands. That's not the life I want." She closed her eyes. "I won't have his blood on my hands, and I certainly won't have the destruction of everything he holds dear being shattered." She opened her eyes but kept them downcast. "Not again anyway."

"Again?" Linda quirked an eyebrow.

"The Escher Room?"

"Oh, right," Linda said, massaging her temples. _"This too much to comprehend in one night..." _She got off the bed and stood up, checking her watch. "It's three in the morning. I'm going to bed. You do the same. No one will wake you up." Sarah watched the door close behind her mother while wondering how Linda could compartmentalize so easily. Then, the tears came as they usually do, and Sarah asked herself over and over again the same question.

_"When will it stop?"_

* * *

"Yes, Robert. She's fine. Everything's fine, no thanks to you." She paused as Robert spoke. "You know exactly what I mean by that. You did nothing to help make her life easier or Irene's transition into her life easier." Linda listened to her ex-husband and wanted to strangle something. "No, Robert. The court will not listen to you, and you know that. They favor kids with the mother anyway. Now that Sarah wants to be with me, there's nothing you can do but wait for her to go back." 

She sighed in annoyance. "Yes. I'm sure she'll want to come back eventually, 'cause you've made your new family just sooo welcoming for her." She rolled her eyes at him, even though he couldn't see. "Yes, that was sarcasm. Good night, Robert. It's four in the morning, and I'm tired. I just thought I'd let you know she's safe. It was a pleasure talking to you." She hung up the phone with an angry punch of a button. Robert was so infuriating; it was just all the worst because every time they spoke, she remembered the good days when they'd been together. Linda slipped into bed, thinking about how happy their family had been. Sarah had been so heartbroken when she told her they were divorcing. Robert had been too much of a coward and wouldn't go tell her. Linda's thoughts trailed on, dreading all the extra miles on the treadmill that she'd have to do tomorrow because of her chocolate exploitations and wondering just when she should expose Sarah to the tabloids and the rest of Hollywood.

_"Soon."_ She turned out the lamp next to her._ "Tomorrow."_

* * *

Jareth the Goblin King was worried. He'd been scrying and knew that Sarah had left the house three days ago and hadn't returned. Every time he'd tried to focus in on her he couldn't see anything. Jareth plucked a crystal from the air and looked into it, but all he saw was the same, old fog. Didn't she know that he loved her? That he was worried about her safety? _"Of course not. I never said anything. The girl's too daft to know anything unless it's direct."_ Jareth paced the length of his study again. He'd been doing the action ever since the letter from the High King came. That had been directly after returning from Sarah's_. "That's not true. I always underestimate her."_ That was always his biggest error with Sarah. 

_"Damn it all. Next time, I'm locking that door with magic and freezing time."_ Jareth looked at the High King's letter, which laid on the desk. _"If there's a next time..."_ He crossed over to the desk. Jareth read it for what seemed like the thousandth time; in all actuality, it was only the one hundred twenty fourth.

"**To: Jareth, King of the Goblins, Lord of the Labyrinth, and Protector of the Underground.**

**Your appearance at the Seelie Court is required to explain activities that are taking place within your realm. You will be addressing the High King for these activities and for your actions concerning them. You will appear before the Court in six month's time. You have one week to respond with a petition of extension.**

**On request from**

**Oberon, King of the Fae, Ruler of the Underground, Head of the Seelie Court." **

Jareth finished reading the letter with a snarl. He was talking about one of two things: Sarah or his release of power. Jareth punched the wall beside the door and was satisfied with the crack in the stone. He hadn't even used magic in that strike. Jareth threw the letter on the other side of his desk.

_"If anything has happened to her..."_ Jareth wouldn't allow himself to finish that thought. Nothing would happen to Sarah. He would go insane if something had. Jareth looked up sharply as a knock sounded on his door. "What is it?" he snapped.

A small goblin by the name of Gark opened up the huge door and poked his head into the room. He wasn't much bigger than a teapot. "Your Majesty. There's a- a- a-"

"Out with it," he said, appearing before the little goblin. Gark was startled so much that he fell into the room. He was rather new in the palace.

"A Fae by the entrance." Jareth groaned mentally.

_"From the High King, no doubt."_ He looked down at the goblin and pushed him out into the hall with his foot. "Send him to my Throne Room." He turned around and was about to shut the door when he noticed the goblin was still staring at him. "Well?" Whatever had been going through the little spaced out creature's mind stopped as he snapped to attention and scrambled away_. "Idiot."_

After Jareth meticulously made sure his attire of skin- tight black pants, a frilly poet's shirt, and a gold leather vest was up to his standards, he transported himself to the throne room. A Fae with a dark complexion stood looking out a window of the Throne room. Several goblins were scattered throughout the room. The Goblin King, however, was mildly surprised to see him and wanted nothing more than to show it and demand why he was here, but Jareth contented himself with sprawling elegantly across his throne and staring down his nose at the Fae, who had yet to notice him as his back was towards the Goblin King.

"So," he drawled, startling the visitor, "why have you requested audience with me?"

"I have requested an audience with you," he said with a British accent that would have surprised other people, "because I know where your mortal is." John turned around to face the Goblin King.

_"Sarah?"_ Jareth moved his feet onto the ground and leaned forward in his throne. "Where? How?"

"One question at a time, Your Majesty. I think we should take this to a more," he trailed off as he looked around the room anxiously, "private place?" Jareth looked around, too, mentally berating himself for not thinking of that first.

"Of course. Let us retire to my study." With a wave of his hand, they were gone.

* * *

"What is this all about, John?" 

"Sarah is with her mother, who I've been serving under Aboveground."

"Ah, yes. The High King had a fit about allowing a Fae to leave and live among and serve under humans," Jareth said, pouring John and himself a drink. "How did you know to tell me, though? Why is she there? She is all right, isn't she?"

John stood in the center of the large study, noting the richness of the mahogany furniture around him and the expensive looking rug beneath his feet. He thought over the question before answering.

"Yes," he said hesitantly, "and no."

"No?" he repeated sharply. "What's wrong? Is she hurt?"

"That depends," John said hesitantly. "She cries herself to sleep every night, and from what her conversations with her mother have revealed, she has been for quite some time. Apparently, she has... feelings for you."

"Preposterous," Jareth scoffed, feeling a bit of hope rise in him. "Sarah doesn't allow herself to have feelings for people." Jareth took a sip of his drink. He was thinking of not only himself in that moment, but of Stephen, a perfectly decent human, according to the goblins. Sarah would surely choose a mortal over himself again, but then, hadn't she chosen to spend all those nights with him- the Goblin King- not that boy? Jareth handed John his glass and took his own behind his desk as he sat in the silver upholstered chair.

"She does. She stayed up until three in the morning telling her mother about everything-"

"Is it a custom Aboveground to eavesdrop?" he snapped, not liking the idea of Sarah's privacy being violated.

"Yes," he replied as he sat in a blue leather upholstered chair on the other side of Jareth's desk. Jareth arched an eyebrow at this. "I usually don't, but I know who Sarah is. That's why I secured the position serving as her mother's butler."

"Why exactly, though," Jareth demanded. He didn't understand John's motives. They'd known each other for nearly a century, and he still had no idea how this Fae worked.

"One hundred seers and several sages have told me that I will reach happiness by assisting Fate Aboveground and helping the Goblin King in some endeavor," he said. "I never placed much faith in seers or sages, but after the hundredth one told me the same thing the others did, I figured it must be true. That was why I went Aboveground."

"You're an odd character," Jareth said as he downed his alcohol. It burned all the way down his throat, and for that, he was thankful. "I have one other question- why is Sarah at her mother's and why can I not see her?"

"That's two," John grinned. "Because Peter was going to tell Irene that Sarah had overworked herself to the point of hallucination, which meant Irene would throw her in a psych ward. You can't see her because I placed anti- scrying spells over the household and its members during the length of their stay to protect them from any nasty spells that the High King's court might decide to throw their way."

"You're not one to tarry, are you?" Jareth asked, impressed and amused by the Fae's foresight.

"No. And you can contact Sarah through the mirrors. I suggest you do so soon. She misses you."

Before Jareth could say or do anything more, John had stood and bowed, asking his leave. "I fear I may be missed. Sarah and her mother are out, but I'm needed back at the house." Jareth wanted to ask more, but he thought better of it and adopted a mask of cold indifference, waving a hand dismissively. John promptly disappeared, leaving Jareth with more than enough on his plate. He looked at the still full glass that John had left._ "That's right. He used to be an alcoholic..."_ Jareth took the glass and downed it. "Why does Sarah do this to me?" He put his face onto his desk, in his arms, to contemplate how Sarah managed to get him worked up without even being within scrying proximity.

"Do what, Your Majesty?" Jareth looked up to see Didymus, in poorer health since the glamour he had cast had worn off.

"How did you get in here?"

"I let my humble personage in," he replied, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Jareth made a mental note to yell at the goblins and ask them if they were letting every Tom, Dick, and Harry into the castle.

"What do you want?"

"The Labyrinth hath had some rather interesting changes, Your Majesty, but I hath found a few spies who had wandered their way into the Bog..."

"Spies?" Jareth was alarmed. How had they made it into the Labyrinth?

"Yes," he replied. "They seemeth to be from the High King. Thou art not at odds with him, art thou?" Jareth glared at him.

"I will deal with them later. For now, leave them in the Bog," he laughed. "That should be punishment enough for the time being." With a wave of his hand, Didymus was back at home with Ludo and Ambrosius. Jareth allowed himself a private moment of weakness.

_"It's not about one or the other. It's both."_ His breathing was shallow as he kept his hands over his face._ "Damn it all. It's** both**."_

* * *

"Sarah. I talked to Robert. He knows you're safe. They're not going to come after you or anything." Sarah looked panicked. She hadn't thought about that. "Oh! And I told you to get dressed up because we're on our way to a movie premiere. Please don't kill me for not telling you sooner." 

Sarah's mouth dropped from across the limo. She had thought they were going somewhere special, like the Viper Room or a fancy restaurant, not a movie premiere where there would be paparazzi aplenty. "Umm..." She stared down at her lap and smoothed out the soft material of her new, pale pink Prada dress.

"Say something!" Linda said, smiling nervously. The look was just too much, Sarah started laughing.

"Why would I be mad? This is the sort of thing I always dreamed of," she said. Linda looked out the window as they pulled out of her neighborhood- Beverly Hills.

"I don't know. Maybe because none of the press know about you?" she replied. Sarah's brows knit together. Her first instinct was to be hurt, but she wasn't. Hollywood was about image, and Sarah understood that.

"I'm not mad," she said slowly. "I know that if everyone thought you had a daughter you never saw, they'd think there was something wrong with you. Now, it'll just give you more publicity. If anything, it was smart to wait until I came around."

"No, Sarah. That was not why I waited. Do not think that I would just use you for publicity. I never would," Linda said sternly. "I waited because I thought my life wasn't good or stable enough for you." Sarah nodded.

"There's that, too," she smiled. Linda sighed in relief. "God you scared me. Geez. I wonder how badly you hurt other people you love." Sarah laughed.

"Enough to make them keel over in pain." She was thinking of the time she kneed Jareth in the crotch. _That_ had been funny. Of course, she'd been worried afterwards that she had permanently damaged him or something. It wouldn't do for that to be put to waste.

"What's wrong?" Linda asked, instantly sounding concerned.

"Huh? What?" Sarah asked, not understanding.

"You're crying." Sarah touched her cheek and was surprised when her fingers came away wet.

"Oh," she said quietly. "I was just thinking about... him."

"Oh," Linda replied._ "She really does love him... She actually loves the Goblin King. Dear God! My daughter is in love with a Fae older than I can count back our lineage."_

"Ms. Williams, who is your... friend?"

"Who is your guest?"

Linda held up her hand to the shouting reporters. "Ladies and gentlemen of the press, this is my daughter, Sarah Williams." A new barrage of questions came for Sarah and Linda. Sarah smiled and stood with poise under the flashing bulbs while secretly wishing to just go in the theatre already.

"Who's the father?"

"Were your parents married?"

"Where's your father now?"

"Are you in the entertainment industry as well?" asked a reporter from People Magazine.

"Well, I'm going to be starting filming the lead for this gymnastics movie coming up-" Linda heard her daughter speaking and jumped in.

"No more questions, thank you," she smiled, leading Sarah down what Linda mentally termed 'the gauntlet.' As soon as they were safe inside the theatre, Linda let her guard partially down. "God, Sarah. Don't talk to them out there."

"What? Why? Doesn't everyone?"

"No. That's where things get misinterpreted. You speak to the media in press conferences and interviews- that's it. Anything else is too open to interpretation, and you do not want that," Linda chided. "Anyway, let's just get this painful experience over with. Then, we can go home. I'll make brownies; you can choose a movie. It'll be a girly chocolate night."

"You're not like other moms, are you?" Sarah sighed.

"Nope." Linda grinned. "Now, come on. All we have to do is smile, watch, and then applaud."

"What about the after party?" Sarah asked. Linda gave her one of those 'do not test me' looks that moms do so well.

"No. You're too young." Linda began walking into the theatre. _"And there's too much alcohol."_

Sarah followed behind her mother, feeling slightly miffed at her mother's reproach about her age as she ascended the stairs. _"I'm not sure if this is the life I want either..."_ She looked around the lobby behind her. _"What do I want?"_ She shook her head as a thought crept into it. _"The better question is: what can I want?"_

* * *

TA DAAA! I'm sorry this took so long! sweatdrop Yeah... Ah, well! I hope it was worth it. I'm sorry that it's so short. I'll try and get the next one longer. This chapter was sort of half filler, half holy-crap-she-just-opened-up-that-can-of-worms? Soo...umm... yeah. Hope you enjoyed it. I'm working on Chapter Ten. It should be finished by this Friday. (SHOULD! Not actually finished.) I've got a ton of projects/school work/ testing this week. Even if it did get finished, it still would have to go through the beta-editing process. 

But ummm... this chapter was 5,032 words. I'm sorry about the shortness... Thank you so much for all the reviews and hits! I adore you people!


	10. Chapter 10

* * *

**For Keeps**

Sarah's been out of the Labyrinth for 6 month, and her seemingly instant maturity hasn't gone unnoticed. When Jareth shows up, seeking to understand how she beat him, things progress down a path neither could have anticipated. JS

**Disclaimer- All Standard Disclaimers Apply  
These are some extra words to make sure that it's another 5,000+ word chapter. Lol.**

Chapter Ten:

* * *

Linda paced the floor anxiously within the walls of her room. She'd issued a statement to the press, explaining Sarah to the satisfaction of both her agent and the media. Single mothers weren't exactly look on with kindness in the entertainment industry. Now, pictures of Sarah were plastered on tons of tabloids. John had brought her all of her subscriptions: People, Teen People, The Enquirer, The Star. They all had Sarah's picture in them. She wasn't jealous of her daughter's sudden fame. If anything, she was afraid for it. She didn't want Sarah to become a public figure when her life was so unstable. If the media caught any sort of instability, they would rip her to shreds. If Sarah were to disappear with a certain Goblin King, then they would have a field day.

Linda smacked a palm to her forehead for what seemed the hundredth time. It had seemed like a good idea at the time. _"So stupid! Why would I do something so stupid!"_

She stopped pacing and sagged down onto her bed. She'd done something that could not be reversed. Sarah was in the public eye now, and whether she liked it or not, things would just have to play out until all the cards were dealt. _"But what are we playing for? What is **she** playing for?"_ Linda looked around her vast room. When she'd first moved in, it had seemed huge. Now, it was just normal to her. She got down on her knees beside her bed and groped about the darkness under the bed. Her fingers brushed the edge of an old box, and she excitedly pulled it out._ "I never could get rid of you."_ She smiled sardonically as she blew the dust off the cover of the old cardboard box.

_"What are you playing for now, Jareth?"_ she thought as she looked fondly at the old 'Chutes and Ladders box. Linda had kept it ever since she'd returned from being wished away. She just kept thinking that she'd see a use for it again. Then again, Linda had always been a pack rat by nature. That was why she had kept the old copy of the "Labyrinth." _"Sarah? Are you playing for Sarah?"_ Her brows, which had been knit together in concentration, relaxed in the realization for a moment. _"He's-"_ Her eyebrows raised. _"He's playing for Sarah."_ She opened up the box to see a crystal atop the game board. Her brows shot up; she'd forgotten about that_. "For keeps."_

"Sarah!"

_Sarah was vaguely aware that someone was calling her name, but that didn't matter. All that mattered was Jareth's warm, firm body against her._

_"So warm..." That was enough to make Sarah realize that she was dreaming. Jareth would never be that close to her, and she'd never feel his body so warm against hers. She opened her eyes, looking up into his._

_"What's wrong?"_

_"You're not real."_

The dream blurred, and Sarah woke up crying. "You're not real." Linda, who had been trying to wake her daughter because Sarah had been repeating the same phrase over and over again quite loudly, stared down with surprise at the abruptness of her daughter's tears. Sarah curled up in the comforter, holding the cover close like a comfort object.

"Honey," Linda said hesitantly. Sarah stilled before realizing that it was her mother's voice. She slowly wiped the tears from her eyes and sat up. "Are you okay?" Sarah nodded, blinking constantly to keep the tears back. "You- you know it's okay if you cry, right?"

"Yeah," she replied, her voice sounding choked. "I just want to stop crying, though."

"Crying is healthy."

"Not when it's every night and sometimes days," Sarah said, pulling the comforter closer around her. Linda sighed. This wasn't supposed to be happening. Robert had called this morning. Sarah's contract said she had to attend her gymnastics boot camp for the film. Linda wasn't about to let Sarah throw away everything she'd been working for just because she couldn't deal with what was happening in her life. That was when Linda realized Sarah wouldn't make a decision on her own. She would have to make it for her. She sat on Sarah's bed.

"Sarah, I think," she said slowly as tears, echoing her daughter's, welled up in her eyes, "it's time for you to go home."

"What?" Sarah gasped as she forgot her concentration, allowing the tears to flow freely. "You can't- I can't just-"

"You can, Sarah. I don't want to let you go. God knows I don't, but you have to go back home. You can't run away from your problems. You have to face them head on," Linda said, holding her daughter close to her. Sarah cried into her mother's arms.

"I know. I just don't want to," Sarah repeated over and over.

"Shh. I know, Sarah. I know," Linda cooed, trying to calm her. "It'll be hard, but you should know better than most that life is never easy." Sarah just cried harder and wrapped her arms around her mother's waist. The two stayed that way for an hour. Sarah cried, and Linda did all she could in offering her a mother's embrace and a friend's soothing words. Finally, Sarah was all cried out, her voice hoarse. She drank some water and stayed silent, knowing that she did have to go back. She just hadn't thought Linda would make her go.

"I-" she stopped, trying to collect her thoughts. She wanted to protest and say it wasn't fair. It was never fair, but that's the way it is. "I'll go."

"You have to leave today. Your contract-"

"I know," Sarah interrupted as her mother slid off the bed. Sarah pushed the comforter off her and sighed. "I know."

"Do you want help packing?"

"No." Sarah shook her head. "I need some time to think." Linda nodded and made her way to the door.

"I'll be waiting in the living room."

Sarah was left with her thoughts as she packed the clothes that she had bought. "Good thing there're extra suit cases in here," she thought. "They're the only good thing about this." Sarah laughed weakly at herself. "I knew it had to end. I just thought-"

Sarah turned around, realizing that she wasn't alone in her room. John was there. "Excuse me, Miss Sarah." Sarah looked him up and down. Servants sure dressed sharply here in California. "I'll finish packing. Your mother is waiting to speak with you in the living room." Sarah bit her lip and nodded. She'd packed away nearly all the clothes. Sarah quickly hurried out of the room and went to the living room.

"Mom?" Linda was seated on the same white recliner she'd been in when Sarah had first arrived. She had a 'Chutes and Ladders box in her lap and was staring at it with a look that screamed she was reminiscing. At the sound of Sarah's voice, her head snapped up.

"Sit down," she said. The command sounded more like an offer, and Sarah sat herself in the pale pink recliner. "I-" She lifted the box up. "I want you to have this." Sarah stared at it, wondering what the hell the sentimental value to it was. She hadn't even liked 'Chutes and Ladders as a kid.

"Okay," Sarah said, not really understanding the significance of it but thankful all the same for the token of affection from her mother. "Um, thank you?"

"Don't open it until you're home," Linda said hurriedly. She was trying her best to remain numb to the fact that she was practically giving her daughter back to the person who had actually made Sarah give up on something. "And call me when you land so I know you're safe." Sarah nodded.

"Yeah, of course. Do you still have the same number?" Linda shook her head.

"No. I'll write down the new one for you. I'll call Robert and let him know you'll be back. Do you need money for a cab?" she replied, getting up and grabbing the notepad and pen by a phone in the corner of the room. She scrawled out the number and handed it to Sarah.

"Here you go." Sarah looked at the number and put it into her purse.

"And um. I'm good on money."

"Oh." Silence set in between the two, but neither had to remain in the discomfort for long.

"The bags are in the limo," John announced. Sarah wondered briefly when the hell he'd gotten in but let it go. It didn't matter so much anymore.

"I love you, Sarah."

"I love you, too. Could you-" Sarah bit her lip. "Don't come with me. If I have you see me off, then I won't be able to stop the tears." Linda hesitated but nodded.

"Bye, sweetie. You never need an invitation to call."

"I know."

* * *

Sarah stepped off the plane and was blinded by incredibly bright lights. "What the-?" she mumbled as she squinted and raised a hand to her face to block the flashing lights. Popping cameras were everywhere. Sarah had to blink twice before she realized that they were the paparazzi, and they were taking pictures of her. _"Holy crap."_

Sarah's first instinct was to run and find a hole far away where the lights would never find her again. She shook off that notion, though. _"What would Mom do?"_ She forced her chin up. "_"I know."_ She walked at a regular pace to the baggage claim, ignoring the cameras the whole way.She held herself together until she and her bags were in a cab on her way home. Then, she broke down. The cab driver looked at her in the rear view mirror but said nothing. It wasn't his concern that some chick was crying in his backseat. All that mattered was that she could pay. He hoped she could. The address she gave him wasn't exactly close to the airport.

She took a deep breath to try and calm the sobs. She had held herself together. After all, Linda had always said to never let them see you sweat. Why hadn't Peter gone over how to deal with the paparazzi yet? She inhaled deeply. What would she say to her dad and Irene? _"What can I say to them but the truth?"_

The brunette stared out the window, watching the trees and landscaping pass by without so much as a bat of an eye. The skies were a dark overcast, seeming to reflect Sarah's mood. _"Nothing really matters,"_ she thought. Sarah half- smiled sadly as she realized that was a line in a song. _"Anyone can see, nothing really matters-, nothing really matters to me."_ When the cab came to a surprising halt, Sarah had to blink several times before realizing she was home.

"Thirty dollars," he said.

"Here you go," Sarah said. She was quite happy to hear that the amount for going this distance was so low.

"You okay, kid?" Sarah turned around to see Peter. Despite what had happened between them, she still had the natural response to smile. His face was friendlier than her parent's and step-parent's faces. His slacks and white collared shirt, were nicer, too.

"I'm fine," she said, climbing out of the cab and onto the driveway. To her surprise, Peter hugged her.

"You're okay, though? I'm sorry for," he rubbed the back of his neck as he thought of what to say, "for everything."

"I forgive you," Sarah replied, pulling her luggage out of the trunk, "for everything." She grinned.

"Irene and Robert are inside. Linda called saying that you'd be home. She told us not to pick you up. Irene was going to, but I persuaded her not to," he said. Sarah sighed. They cared about her; they were just trying to think of what was in her best interest without knowing all the facts. That's what Sarah repeated to herself to keep from running away again as she walked into her house, holding some of her bags while Peter, trailing behind, had the others.

* * *

"Sarah!" both Robert and Irene called simultaneously. Before either could say another word, however, Sarah had raised her hands and cut them off.

"Look. I don't want to hear anything from either of you. I know what I did was cowardly, and I'm sorry if I worried you at all. It was something I had to do, though, and I wouldn't take it back if I could." Sarah crossed her arms under her breasts and spoke with the calm, resolute stolidity expected of someone with many, many more years. Both of her respected guardians looked at her with wide eyes, obviously speechless. Sarah took the moment to observe them both and the kitchen.

Dishes from four days ago, when she'd left, were still in the sink. Fast food wrappings and boxes littered the counter, and the bottle of brandy above the refrigerator was definitely lower in content. Robert had dark circles under his eyes. Irene seemed to have been able to get enough sleep at night, though. To her credit, she did seem to be thoroughly stressed. The unkempt hair could attest to that. The face was strangely void of make up, too. Sarah wondered what their impression of her was right then. She was wearing some designer outfit and had taken some time on the plane to pretty herself up out of habit. Did they think she looked like, for lack of a better word, stuck up? Or… _trashy_?

"Say something," Sarah whispered. Robert got up silently and crossed over to her, enveloping her in a huge hug.

"I was so worried." Sarah smiled.

"I know. I'm sorry," she said, hugging her dad back. He held her a bit away from him so that she could see his eyes when he spoke to her.

"No. I'm sorry. I didn't- I didn't even think, Sarah. I thought you were fine with the way things were up until a few nights ago. You started acting strange, and I didn't get it. Your mother…" he gulped, "She really cleared it up for me."

"Mom?" Sarah's brows knit together.

"I think Sarah's tired and wants to unpack," Peter said carefully, noting that Irene was attempting to hide an extremely livid look in her eyes. Apparently, Linda's call had not been well received by all the members of the household. Looking over Robert's shoulder, Sarah noticed it too. She nodded.

"Yeah. Bunch of new clothes and all." She pulled away from her father and forced herself to walk, not run, up the stairs. Once she was in her room, Peter with half the bags and she with the other half, Sarah allowed herself a sigh of relief.

"God. I thought Irene was going to have a conniption for a second."

Sarah laughed at that. It was one of those abrupt, surprised laughs people have when they're thinking the exact same funny, horrible thing. "Me, too," she grinned. The grin fell as she looked around her room. Apparently, someone-_ "Probably Irene,"_ Sarah thought with a grimace- had been scavenging around in her room.

"Peter, they didn't-" she gulped, "Irene and Dad didn't blame this on you, did they?"

Peter shook his head. The blonde hair didn't move with the movement, seeing how it was too heavily gelled in place. "No. I think they wanted to but knew better."

"Knew better?"

"I would file a nice, lovely law suit for slander and defamation of character," he clarified. Sarah smiled. A silence that was only awkward for Peter fell between them as Sarah started putting away her clothes. After the first and largest suit case was emptied, Peter cleared his throat. Sarah rolled her eyes at the excess drama.

"What?" she snapped, sounding a bit irritated at his stare.

"Have you seen him again?" he asked in a very low, quiet voice. It was almost so low that Sarah wanted to ask him to repeat it, but she didn't want to make him ask again.

"No," she replied. "And I won't again. Not for a very long time." Sarah looked wistfully out the window. Pain was raw in her eyes, but the rest of her face was a careful, blank mask. Peter looked away, feeling that the sort of raw anguish was something one respectfully averted one's eyes from.

"Why not?" he asked, daring to ask her a bit more about an obviously painful subject. Normally, he minded his own business, but Sarah was his client. Clients can have privacy but rarely from their managers/agent.

"Because I love him, and I can't want him anymore!" Sarah shouted, letting her carefully restrained emotions show. Sarah's lip trembled as she fought back for her lost resolve. "Please, Peter, don't ask about it anymore." He nodded his acquiescence as he inched back to the door.

"You're home safe and sound. I think," he paused as he reached for and turned the door handle, "it's time I leave. This is your business." Sarah nodded in agreement, and Peter was gone.

With nothing but the cold silence as her companion and solace, Sarah wept for what wasn't the first nor the last time. _"Why?" _she thought as she curled up on her bed, her favorite Jareth- scented pillow in her lap as she held her knees to her._ "Why does it have to be so hard?"_

* * *

_"Where are you, now?"_ Jareth tapped his riding crop on his chin as he looked into a mirror that floated in front of him in his Throne Room. The mirror showed an empty guest room at Sarah's mother's house_. "Where? Where? Where?"_ Jareth let the hand holding the riding crop fall to his lap the other raised to cover his mouth and chin as he thought about where she was. She was safe he knew that much. Otherwise, John would have contacted him. Well, he hoped he would have contacted him. His concern for Sarah was more than his average curiosity over what became of those who bested the Labyrinth. He loved her, after all.

Jareth waved a hand over the mirror. The image promptly shimmered into a silver, metallic pool, and then, Sarah's room came into focus. Jareth's carefully controlled mask slipped as his eyebrows shot up. _"Sarah,"_ he thought, uncharacteristic concern lacing through his mind.

_"What's wrong?"_ He waved the mirror away and stood up abruptly. John was right. He did need to pay Sarah a visit. He'd set Hoggle, Ludo, and Didymus free. Why hadn't he come to her sooner? _"Because of words unspoken."_

Sarah sat there crying. _"Jareth, we can't go back. Why did I have to screw everything up? Why?"_ If Sarah had been in the mood to actually move, she'd have been up and banging her head against a wall or an extremely heavy, hard, blunt object.

"Sarah?"

Sarah was startled into an extremely surprised silence. Had she been hitting herself with a blunt object? That couldn't be **him.** _"He wouldn't..." _She slowly raised her head from her fetal position, the one she'd been in for the past hour, and looked around her room. It was empty, from what she could tell. That was why she was even more surprised when she heard _his_ voice again.

"Sarah."

"What the hell?" she murmured. _"Great. I'm going insane." _Then, Sarah caught sight of the mirror. Jareth's image was on it, not entirely in focus, but there nonetheless. "Jareth?" she asked, her tone echoing his. Sarah leapt to her feet. "How-"

"Never mind that. Sarah, what have you been doing?" Sarah's brows knit together in confusion. Here they were, seeing each other again, days after their last encounter of the close and romantic kind, and he was remaining coolly aloof.

"I've been..." she turned around, feeling strangely giddy and hurt like a school girl around her crush who she just told she liked with only his silence in response. "Where I've been or what I've been doing is none of your business. I told you not to see me unless they were all free." Sarah, with her back turned, couldn't see Jareth crossing over to her room. She glowered out the window as she watched the storm clouds' turmoil in the sky. Her arms were crossed beneath her breasts, and Jareth leaned in close, almost touching but not quite. His hair was nearly grazing her shoulders, and she still didn't even notice him.

"I was asking about," Sarah jumped as his murmuring in her ear startled her, "your tears." His ungloved fingertips brushed her cheek and came away with the fresh, crystalline drops. Sarah felt a small gasp rise in her as he turned her around. She looked up in his eyes and wanted to stay that way forever. She wanted to tell him how she felt and ask if they could spin the stars and dance until the sun gave out, but instead, she said the first thing she knew to be true.

"We can't be together, Jareth," she blurted. His hands stopped their motion around her back and withdrew as if burned.

"Why not?" he demanded, hands clenched at his sides like a menacing authoritative figure. He did not like how things were going, and holding his anger back was a lot harder than it looked.

"Because- because we just can't. You have to understand," she said, her heart secretly fluttering while her mind raced._ "Was that an actual admittance? Does he actually return my feelings?"_

"I think you delude yourself, Sarah, into ridiculous presumptions," he replied. Sarah felt her heart dropping. He didn't return them. "Why," he asked, circling around her, "would you think that we couldn't make it work?" Sarah's heart jumped into her throat.

_"Heart rollercoaster tonight,"_ she thought wryly. "Jareth, I-" She looked down for a moment and took a breath before looking him in his eyes. Whatever she was going to say didn't matter. Something in Jareth's eyes made her concerned. Why did they look so weary? "Are you okay?" That caught Jareth by surprise.

"What?"

"Are you okay? I mean," she bit her lip, and Jareth had the urge to tell her to let him do that for her, but he resisted. "You seem... tired."

"A lot of things have been... difficult Underground," he replied, wondering just how much to tell her.

"Oh," Sarah replied noncommittally. She didn't know quite what to say to that, and Jareth was grateful that she didn't press the issue.

"Sarah," Jareth prodded after a moment, "you haven't answered my question." Sarah suddenly smiled at a memory and beamed it at him.

"I haven't decided to answer." Jareth, taken by surprise at that, too, smiled. It wasn't so much a full smile as a flash of slightly pointed teeth with a lip curl at the corners. "Jareth," she said, growing serious despite her speeding heartbeat, "I won't let you ruin the Goblin Kingdom. No relationship between us could ever be casual, and I couldn't let a serious one destroy everything you worked for." Jareth laughed, and it was a cold, cruel sound to Sarah's ears.

"Sarah," he said amidst the cruel intonations, "what would ever make you think that I couldn't handle my kingdom?"

"I know some politics, Jareth. Underground, Aboveground. It doesn't make a difference. There's always someone wanting a position of power who's willing to kill and ruin lives for it. I won't-" she spoke through gritted teeth, "**can't** let that happen." Jareth's eyes lit up with fire.

"You think I can't handle my own kingdom?" he asked through gritted teeth.

"No. I think," tears welled up in her eyes as she spoke, "that I'm not going to risk you getting hurt. I'd never be able to stop blaming myself. If you were killed..." She trailed off. "Something in me would die." Jareth looked at her through veiled eyes.

"Sarah, do you feel as if you are," he dared not hope or voice his thought. "Do you feel as if we are courting?" he asked, adding a cruel, mocking tone to save him some pride, should Sarah just be playing with emotions.

"Aren't we?" Sarah asked, unsure whether or not she should be asking. Jareth wanted to say so much but felt it best that she do the talking. After all these years, he'd learned to play his cards close, and Sarah was probably his biggest competitor in the wager. He tilted his head in that cocksure manner Sarah had grown to miss so much.

"What were you saying the other day?" he asked, not daring yet to voice his feelings.

"What?" Sarah asked, not registering the question until after she asked for clarification. "Oh! Yeah, I- I just wanted to know if you could," Sarah chose this moment to lick her lips, sending another wave of lust through Jareth. "Jareth, I-" Sarah stopped. What was she doing? Confessing feelings to the Goblin King? Feelings of affection? Feelings of adoration? Feelings of_ love_? Sarah shook her head. "Love doesn't conquer all, and life is not a fairytale." Sarah didn't realize that she had said that out loud until Jareth raised a quizzical, arched eyebrow.

"What?"

"Hm?"

"Where did that come from?" he asked, a mask of dangerous curiosity covering the turbulent hope and wrathful, possible rejection inside him. Sarah blushed as she realized what she had said but looked him right in the eyes.

_"This was what I was afraid of,"_ she thought,_ "Speaking to him like this, where I want so badly to be with him when I know I can't." _

"What are you thinking, Sarah?" he asked, emphasis on the 'are.'

"Jareth, please don't make me say it," she pleaded, suddenly knowing how badly she wanted to tell him. If he asked her, demanded her, she wouldn't be able to refuse for long. Of course, this only goaded Jareth's curiosity.

"Sarah, you must tell me, or I won't be able to help you out of whatever mess you've put yourself in," he replied. Sarah's lower lip trembled. She wanted so badly to tell him. If he rejected her, though, if everything he did was just out of a hidden agenda or simple camaraderie, she wouldn't be able to stop the heartbreak.

"Jareth, I'm begging you," she clenched her fists into the material of his sleeves. "Please!" She drew herself closer to him.

"Sarah, tell me," he said sternly. Sarah felt herself breaking. He was being so cruel. Of course, she knew he could be cruel, and she loved him anyway.

"Jareth, I didn't put myself in this mess. It found me. You found me," she said, her resolve tumbling as tears slipped down her cheeks. Jareth looked down at the creature clutching onto him and couldn't think of a moment where she'd been more beautiful.

"Sarah," he said, softer than his original cruel demand, "how exactly did I find you?"

"You found me when I was in a place without your heartbeat," she whispered, "a place without you." Jareth's arms circled around her, and Sarah sighed as she realized that he was satisfied with that answer.

"Sarah, dearest Sarah," he murmured into her hair as he pulled her against his chest, "I have no power over you, and you know that. All you do, you do on your own in spite of those who would hold you down." Sarah sobbed, and it racked her body. It was so hard to be strong all the time. She had to hold herself together for Linda, for Peter, for Irene, for Robert, for Stephen, for Michelle, for Toby, but for the Goblin King, she could break down and cry. "Sarah, you must have realized long ago," he paused as Sarah's breathing hitched. He didn't know she was waiting with bated breath to see just what his reply to her near confession would be. Did he love her. "I offered you your dreams twice before. Would you take them if offered again?"

_"Third time's a charm,"_ Sarah thought wryly, knowing that if she had been the same Sarah that she'd been a few months ago, she would have taken them now. She wasn't that Sarah, though, and the person she was couldn't take the dreams, the love she wanted. "Love is wanting what's best for the other person," Sarah said slowly, "and that's why I'd have to say no, Jareth." She pulled herself away from him. "That's why we can't be together!" Sarah's tears were practically streaming. "Because I love you!"

Time seemed to stand still in that one moment as Jareth heard the three words he'd never thought he'd hear from Sarah. Thoughts raced through the Goblin King's mind. He had thought that she would come to feel that way, but he'd never dreamt that she'd actually admit it. Why would Sarah say that now? Why was she insisting that they couldn't be together? Why would she pull away from him when she obviously wanted him? Wasn't it obvious that he felt the same bloody way about her?

"Well?" Sarah asked, echoing his phrase from long ago.

"Sarah!"

"WHAT NOW!?!" Sarah screamed at Toby in the doorway. She had thought it was someone else. Toby's eyes started to well up. He was still practically a baby, only a toddler really. "Oh, Toby, I didn't mean to-" He started crying, and Sarah ran over to him. He ran out into the hall, though, and Sarah was forced to run after him. She caught up to him in the master bedroom. "Toby, I didn't mean to. I'm sorry," she cried, holding the little tyke to her. "I'm sorry."

Jareth, who could have easily walked like Sarah and Toby had if it weren't for the fact that he was Fae and a stranger in the household, faded from Sarah's room to the master bedroom. He watched Sarah hold Toby and wondered just exactly what he should say to this girl who he had turned the world for, the one who had just offered him her heart on a silver platter. Part of him wanted to laugh at her and let her know the same pain he'd felt when she rejected him. Another part was doing somersaults and those strange back flips she'd been doing at that gymnastics place. He decided he should wait for her to come back to her room. These words didn't need to be spoken in front of Toby. _"But they need to be spoken."_

Sarah came back into the room roughly twenty minutes later to find Jareth seated at her vanity, staring down at a picture of her in her photo album. He looked up as she entered, and Sarah felt her palms sweat. Why hadn't he responded? She'd confessed her feelings to him, and he hadn't even said one word yet. Jareth looked into her eyes, and both momentarily froze at the connection of their eyes. "Sarah, there is much we need to discuss," he said. Sarah's eyes widened as she saw what photo he was looking at. It was the one of her, Linda, and an owl in the background- a barn owl whose eyes were focused on Sarah. Sarah felt miffed. He was staring at the picture of her and her mother. Her **gorgeous mother.**

"It_ was_ you."

* * *

That's right, bitches. Another chapter over 5,000 words. I bet you all are super happy. Lol. Probly not. You all were probably wondering where the hell this chapter was. Umm... I'm sorry! Life just got in the way. Heh. Life. Anyway- much love to you all. Thank you sooo much for the hits and reviews. Chapter Eleven WILL be up soon. (It's already written.) I don't know why has been so retarded in its update thingys... WTF? Anyway- much love. I hope you see this chapter before... like... a long time...


	11. Chapter 11

**For Keeps**

Sarah's been out of the Labyrinth for 6 month, and her seemingly instant maturity hasn't gone unnoticed. When Jareth shows up, seeking to understand how she beat him, things progress down a path neither could have anticipated. JS

**Disclaimer- All Standard Disclaimers Apply**

Chapter Eleven:

* * *

"I wanted to discuss it before you flew off the handle," he said nonchalantly, picking some imaginary object off of the shoulder of his dark blue shirt. The lace on it fell from the edges like a fountain, and Sarah wondered briefly how it would feel brushing against her bare skin. She quickly put the thought aside in the knowledge of Jareth's actions.

"Why would you just go through-" Sarah stopped, knowing that when it came to his curiosity, Jareth knew no boundaries. "Why were you there? No one wished for you," Sarah said angrily, ignoring his comment about her temper.

"You intrigued me," he replied, "even then."

Sarah was unsure whether she should feel creeped out that he'd been watching her as a child. _"That's borderline pedophilia..." _She focused her anger on something more tangible. It was easier to be angry than hurt that he hadn't said anything in response to her admission. "Intrigued?" she spat bitterly, "Well, doesn't that just make me feel super!" Jareth wanted to smile and say "Atta, girl," but he didn't. Instead, he looked at her with all that focused curiosity, and Sarah felt her cheeks grow hot under his gaze.

"Sarah, you must know how I feel about you," he said, enjoying the way the blush lit up her face, "It's painfully obvious."

She blushed harder as her heart rate sped up. "What?" she managed to squeak out. _"That was supposed to sound intimidating..."_

Jareth, smirking with the sort of sexual charm that would make any female swoon, stood up and casually walked over to Sarah, who still stood in her doorway. He stood in front of her and closed the door behind her, keeping his arms on either side of her head. How could she not know? His smirk widened into a smile "I love you, Sarah," he said, looking her straight in the eyes. Sarah's jaw dropped before she could stop it. Part of her was spinning, and the other was telling her to keep being angry. She couldn't, though.

"Jareth," she choked out, looking down as she felt the tears prick at her eyes, "it doesn't matter." She tried to steel her face up. _"That was a lie..." _Sarah made herself look him in the eyes "We _can't_ be together."

"And I ask you again, why not?" Sarah couldn't think clearly with his lips, his body so close. She tried to duck under his left arm, but he lowered it and wrapped it around her waist, pulling her into him. "Why not?" he murmured into her ear from behind.

"Because," a tear slipped down, "we just can't. Now stop. Just stop." She turned around in his embrace and put her hands to his chest, feeling the muscles tense and taut under the starched fabric. "We can't, so stop." She was crying now, and Jareth, instead of feeling disgust, felt a need to console her.

"Sarah," he whispered softly as she looked up into his eyes, "you must believe me when I say that you're talking nonsense." Sarah knew that he meant to be a solace, but it wasn't working. She curled her fists into the material of his shirt and bit her lip.

"You have to go. Now."

"If that is what you wish," he said, a little too cocky for Sarah's taste.

"It is," she insisted, keeping her eyes fixed on his.

"Then you'll need to let go of my shirt," he replied.

_"That's why he was so cocky,"_ she thought as she let go of his shirt. "Go." Jareth stayed where he was, and Sarah just couldn't take it anymore. The sky outside was dark, and the rain was falling hard on the roof. Sarah's tears seemed to echo the rain streaming down the window.

"Sarah-"

"Why is this conversation ending up as a repeat of the night Stephen kissed me? I don't ask much from you-"

"Just the reordering of time, the turning of the world upside down, and fulfilling all your expectations," he interrupted.

"I didn't ask for any of that! All I want is you, Jareth, only you!" she cried.

"If that's the case, then why can't we be together?" he asked, cocking an eyebrow. She'd successfully evaded the question so far.

"Because I won't let the kingdom rip itself apart! Surely, you can understand that. I can't let the Goblin Kingdom enter into anarchy because of some human queen!" she sobbed, turning around with his arm still around her waist. Jareth's mask slipped away.

"Sarah-"

"I wish the goblins would come and take you away, right now." Nothing happened, but Sarah knew Jareth would understand the severity of that. He neither breathed nor so much as twitched as Sarah tried to calm her tears. "Love," she said, turning back to face him as she gained some control over her composure, "doesn't conquer all. Love isn't enough."

Jareth wanted to say that it was, that she was being foolish and pigheaded, and that if only she would trust him, it could all be okay. Jareth knew that none of that could be promised, though, not with the High King's ominous letter and certainly not with the state of his powers and kingdom being so uncertain. Why didn't she trust him, though? "Why," he asked slowly, "do you not trust me?"

"Jareth, I do." Sarah could feel her composure slipping. "It's the others I don't trust." Jareth brought his hand from the door to her chin, tilting her face upwards. Sarah stared helplessly into his eyes. He was so much physically stronger than her. She could feel the unused power in him like a beast trapped beneath the surface of a lake.

"Trust me." He lowered his lips onto hers, and Sarah felt herself melt into him. His lips were so unbelievably soft on hers, so mind-blowingly wanting. One tear fell down onto the floor from her cheek. The rain outside was a steady rhythm as the taste of his lips left her with a feeling of euphoria.

Sarah looked up at him and knew he wouldn't leave without the right words. "You have," she licked her lips, trying to imprint upon her mind the memory of his kiss, "no power over me." A knock sounded on her door as it opened, and Jareth suddenly disappeared, leaving Sarah with Toby.

"Sarah, was that him?"

"Yeah," she cried, slumping down onto the floor.

"Why you cryin'?" he asked. Sarah laughed through her tears.

"Because love doesn't conquer all."

"It doesn't?"

"Ask me again for sure when I'm on my death bed," she said, trying not to be weak in front of Toby. She looked out her window at the falling rain. _"Which I wish was now."_

"There. That should be fine," Jareth said, finishing his letter to the High King. He handed it to a meek- looking maid who promptly exited the room. The servants who weren't goblins stayed in the kitchens and cleaned at nighttime. He didn't know why, really. It was something he had never contemplated. It had always been that way in the Goblin Kingdom. Jareth sighed. Everything had been routine in the Goblin Kingdom. "Until Sarah." He looked around the room, feeling something painful tearing away at the core of him. Why would she do that? Say _those _words. They didn't have any magical implications Aboveground, but the meaning behind them had cut him to the quick. _"I told her I love her, damn it. Why?"_

He was asking the same question Sarah had asked herself hundreds of times._ "Why?"_ What it meant was different and the same simultaneously. Both wondered why they kept playing some stupid game whenever around the other, why they both had to be so headstrong, and why it was so hard to let go. He wouldn't let go of Sarah. He couldn't let go of her. How could she just let go of him so easily?

Jareth conjured a crystal and stared into it, viewing some foreign looking people in his bog. Jareth flashed teeth in some twisted form of a wicked grin. These were the spies, and they would be the outlet for the rage he was feeling. How dare Sarah question his ability to keep his kingdom under control! How dare she even think he wasn't strong enough! How dare she question his power over his subjects! "To the dungeons with them," he muttered, waving the spies into the dungeons. He'd be playing some mind control games with them. "How dare she think I don't have what it takes to make our relationship work!" He threw the crystal at the door of his study. It exploded in a fountain of broken glass, which faded out of existence before it could touch the floor. Jareth's anger was far from relieved.

He turned around to look out the window with malice glinting in his eyes. If his last little episode was sufficient enough to warrant a summons from the High King, then this was certainly going to be an event to view with awe. He transported himself to the dungeon, where the sounds of shallow breathing and frantic muttering could be heard. Jareth smirked cruelly. _"I can be just as cruel as you, Sarah."_ He conjured and snapped a black leather whip upon the backs of both spies in one motion. His power stretched and filled every crevice in the Labyrinth, overflowing them and into the entire Goblin Kingdom like a fountain with too much water. Its heat suffocated the foreigners and stung like an angry wind. The inhabitants above in the Goblin Kingdom felt it running across and through their skin like thousands of heated darts, stinging and slicing with painful accuracy. _"Just as cruel."_

"Pick me up, Stephen."

"Well, hello to you, too," he said with a laugh.

"Pick me up now," she said, feeling too drained to reply with anything reminiscent of energy.

"You okay?"

"We'll talk in the car. Bring Michelle." Sarah clicked the cordless phone off and opened up her window. The rain was still pounding hard, but she didn't care. She needed someone to hold her and someone who could talk sense to her. Right at that moment, they sounded like the best people. She looked around for clothes to change into. She needed something tree- climbing capable. Finally, she slipped into a pair of Jordach jeans and an inside out white sweatshirt that had the collar cut out so that it draped across her shoulders, revealing her collarbone.

Sarah jumped from the sill to the tree outside her window and nearly slipped on the slick branches. _"Better be extra careful."_ She slowly made her way down and just jumped off the lowest limb when Stephen pulled his dad's Bentley up, Michelle in the back seat. Sarah was soaked, and the rain didn't seem to be letting up. Sarah ran to the car as Michelle opened the door. She climbed into the backseat, and her redheaded friend just put her arms around her.

"Oh, baby, just rest your head on Mama's bosom," she said, making her voice sound soulful. Sarah's tears from earlier returned as she hugged her friend back. Stephen pulled out of the driveway, turning Katrina and the Waves down. Somehow "Walking on Sunshine" just didn't fit the mood. Ten minutes passed before Sarah could talk again. She pulled away from Michelle and sniffed.

"I got you all wet." Michelle laughed.

"That's all you can come up with?" Sarah felt a small smile tug on her face, and Michelle pinched her cheek. "That's my girl."

"I thought it was my job to cheer her up," Stephen said with a mock pout.

"No," Michelle corrected, "We just use you for- well, you're pretty much a wallet on wheels." Stephen went rigid, and Michelle rolled her eyes. Sarah smiled, sadness still in her eyes.

"That was a joke," the brunette clarified. Stephen laughed nervously.

"I knew that. I was just...uhh... playin' with you guys! Congratulations! You won!" he said, trying to cover it up. A little bit of the smile reached Sarah's eyes. "So," Stephen coughed, "what happened with your mom? Was she a total bitch? We saw you on the news and tabloids." Michelle pulled out a People magazine with Sarah on the cover.

"What the hell?" She grabbed the magazine from Michelle, feeling in a very surreal place as she flipped through the pages to find the article featuring her. "And no," she continued, "my mom is not a bitch, and you will never refer to her that way. She is awesome. We went shopping." Michelle eyed Sarah's Tiffany & Co. necklace.

"Yes, I can tell." Sarah followed Michelle's eyes.

"Oh. Yeah. She said I could go back anytime as long as I wasn't running from a problem," she said. Sarah looked down as she found the article featuring herself. She read it aloud, "Sarah Williams, the recently revealed daughter of actress Linda Williams, arrived at the premiere of Linda's new movie and took the paparazzi by storm with her gorgeous Prada dress and poise that the Queen Mum should be jealous of. Recent reports of a gymnastics movie by Paramount have been confirmed by the actress, who will be starring in the film..." Sarah trailed off as it went on to describe the movie, her clothes, and other useless tidbits. "Holy crap."

"Yeah," Stephen said, turning onto Main Street. "Are you guys hungry? Do you want food?"

"What time is it?" Sarah asked as Michelle took the magazine and read the rest of the article to herself.

"A little after ten o'clock," he replied.

"Holy crap," Sarah repeated. "I didn't know it was so late."

"Well, it's not exactly dark out," Michelle said sarcastically as she gestured to the nearly pitch black night outside the car. Sarah ignored her and looked at the back of Stephen's head.

"Food sounds good," she said.

"Let's go to Taco Bell!" Michelle squealed. "I never go unless I'm with you guys. My little sister hates it, so we never go..."

"Why don't you get your own car?" Stephen asked, glancing back at Michelle.

"Becauuuuse," she drawled out, "we're not all little rich kids. SOME of us have to pay for college without buying our way in on the family money."

"I am NOT buying my way into college, and neither is my father," he retorted.

"Yeah," she said sarcastically, "You just got into Harvard on yo-"

"You got into Harvard?" Sarah interrupted, happy for an excuse to stop the argument. She had enough fighting today.

"Yeah. The acceptance letter came today. Little Miss Yale over there is just upset that her acceptance letter hasn't come yet," he answered, hooking a thumb in Michelle's direction. "Hey, what about you, Sarah? Have you even applied anywhere?"

"Yes," she said without hesitance, "I applied everywhere. I just haven't exactly been here to get the mail and milk the cows, Mister Red- Blooded American."

"Yeah, so anyway, what happened with your mom?" Sarah sighed.

"We reconnected. She just helped me to come up with the confidence to tell my dad that I was sorry for not telling him my need to see my biological mother, but I just had to get away and see her," she replied. Stephen turned into the Taco Bell parking lot and came up alongside the ordering menu in the drive- through.

"What do you guys want?"

"Everything," Michelle said before Sarah could say a word. "Just tell him one of everything. That way we can do soul searching eating."

"How does that even make sense?" Michelle slapped Stephen on the back of the head.

"Just do it." He cringed and rolled down the window. The voice of what sounded to be a very awkward teenager right in the throes of those magic changes sounded over the intercom.

"Welcome to Taco Be-ell," his voice cracked, "What can I-I get you-u?"

Sarah laughed and then ended up sucking in too much air as she gasped at the same time. Michelle gave her a 'okaaay, crazy' face, and Stephen grinned in the front seat. "One of everything," he said, fishing out his wallet from the cavernous glove compartment.

"One of eve-erythi-ing?" he repeated, sounding shocked.

"Yep," Stephen replied, "And three large Pepsis." He rolled around to the cashier's window. The kid did not fit the voice; tall, gorgeous, and Indian looking. Sarah felt something plop onto her thigh, and she turned around to see Michelle wiping at her drool. Stephen saw and gave the kid a scowl. He handed a hundred dollar bill over to him, suddenly being the elite socialite he was at his parent's parties. Michelle made a face at Stephen before turning back to Sarah.

"Apparently, while you were gone, he decided he was over you," she whispered in the brunette's ear. "Guess who the new lucky winner is," she said through a big, forced smile. Sarah laughed as the cashier handed the change back to Stephen.

"Better you than me." Michelle grabbed Stephen's shoulder before he could move the car. She rolled Sarah's window down and handed the gorgeous hunk of a man a piece of paper with numbers on it.

"Call," she grinned. Stephen, blushing a red so dark it made the killer tomatoes look pale, gritted his teeth as they pulled forward to the pick- up window. They all sat in an awkward silence until four minutes later, when Michelle burst out laughing. "God, Stephen! You don't need to be such a cold wind!"

_"That's not even a saying..."_ Sarah thought, eyeing her laughing friend curiously. Stephen just clenched his jaw and remained still.

"I mean, Jesus," she crossed herself, "I gave him Sarah's number!"

"What?" Sarah snapped, her face the quintessence of shocked rage.

"You need to get out! Find a guy! And he was gorgeous," Michelle sighed, looking back at the closed window. "Why must your window be forever closed to me?"

"You're really weird, Michelle. And next time you want to give my number out to strange men, why not try actually asking me?" she said, her face and voice the embodiment of the emotion of 'pissed off.' Stephen took four bags through the window.

"Ummm... drive, Stephen! Quick! To the stage so we can drop the spawn of Satan off in the limelight it belongs to!"

Sarah smiled as they took off. _"I love my friends." _She looked out the window at the storming skies and felt her depression looming above her head like the clouds around her. _"I love him more..."_

"Why so glum, Sarah?" asked Michelle in an anchorwoman's voice.

"Because-" Sarah shook her head and plastered on a smile, "I'm not. In fact, I hope that guy does call. As soon as his voice stops changing, he'll be a babe." Sarah looked back at the gray skies. _"I miss him so much. I'll never stop missing him..."_

_"Mercyy!!"_

Sarah woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of a faint, wailing scream that sounded as if the person making the noise was dying most painfully. She looked around her dark room as thunder snapped and boomed across the sky. An instant later, a flash of lightning lit up her room, casting eerie shadows that left Sarah feeling scared like a little kid again. _"God. I'm being childish,"_ she thought. Sarah couldn't shake off the feeling that she had heard the scream, though. She got up to check on Toby, who was sleeping soundly in his own room. She went back to her room and sat down in her bed, pulling the comforter up around her. "I hate life," Sarah said aloud to no one in particular. She looked around the room.

"I hate this room," she said, looking around at it. True, the stuffed animals, the dolls, and figurines were gone, but the room otherwise remained the same as it had been in her pre- Labyrinth days. "I need a change in it." Sarah got off her bed and crept down the stairs to the kitchen, where Irene kept the candles and lighters in a cupboard above the refrigerator. She grabbed a plastic bag of them and ran back up the stairs, taking extra care to remain silent. She entered her room and looked around. _"First thing to go is this canopy,"_ she thought as she dropped the candles atop her bed and ripped down the canopy above the head of her bed. It had been suspended off of a shelf she had put on her wall. Sarah turned around and arranged four burgundy candles atop the shelf, two tall ones on the outside and two small ones on the inside. Sarah quickly lit them, and they cast a soft light around the room, elongating shadows that crept up her walls like smoky tendrils.

_"Something to keep my mind off him,"_ she thought, keeping her resolve hanging by a thread. She took a deep breath and went over to the wall that had Escher's 'Relativity' woodcut poster. _"Keep my mind off him,"_ she silently wished._ "Please..."_

Sarah ripped down the poster. _"He loves me..." _She moved her vanity over into the corner by the window._ "He loves me, and I love him back." _Sarah pulled her comforter and sheets off her bed. _"And we can't be together."_ She shoved the mattress and boxspring off, too._ "Because I love him too much to just let..." _Sarah tip toed down the hall to the closet where the tools were kept and came back with the toolbox. _"To just let him have his kingdom ripped apart." _Sarah took the bedframe apart, tears slipping down her face the whole time. _"I love him too much, and he doubts it."_

She moved the wood out into the hall and laid the mattress and boxspring down atop each other in front of the window, lengthwise against the wall. _"If you ever come back to watch me, I'll be here." _Sarah went to the attic and grabbed all the silken fabrics from her grandmother's old trunk. Her grandpa had bought them when he was in Asia for the war. _"I'll be in everything I would've wanted us to be in, and I'll be alone." _She layered them across the bed and pulled stools and some of the wooden planks from the hall back into the room. _"Because there's just no way any other man could compare to you, and any other relationship would be a lie."_ She arranged the remaining twenty two candles on the elevated surfaces and lit them. The burgundy, forest green, royal blue and silver sheets matched the ivy and cabernet of the candles. _"I love you and miss you so much."_

"Sarah, why is there wood out in the ha-" Robert stopped in Sarah's doorway as he surveyed the changed room. "So that's what you were doing instead of eating dinner. It's... nice."

Sarah raised her head from her pillow. She'd blown out the candles before going to bed, so they were only partially melted. She looked at her dad and tried to grin, but her face muscles were stiff from crying. "Yeah... I like it," she said. Sarah surveyed her handy work in the light._ "That's right. They didn't know I left."_

"Well, um, I'll just take this wood out for you," he said, backing out into the hall and shutting her door. Sarah looked around her room, wishing that she could just sleep forever. It wasn't running from her problems, so she wouldn't be going against her mother's advice...

_"Damn,"_ Sarah cursed, burrowing back underneath the silk._ "I just want to sleep forever. Wake me up when that ends. Maybe then God will let me die." _Sarah's lips twisted into a wry smile. _"No. 'Cause no one has that sort of mercy."_

"Sarah! You have to go to gymnastics!" Her dad burst back into her room. Sarah moved the covers to show him she was already in her leotard.

"You were saying?"

"Get up! I'll take you." Sarah arched her eyebrows. "What?"

"You never take me anywhere anymore..."

"I know. I'm sorry." His eyes looked so remorseful. Sarah got up and hugged her dad.

"I've forgiven you. Let's go, Dad."

"Vhere the hell vere you?" Sarah, startled, fell a step backwards.

_"Apparently, his accent is a LOT stronger when he's angry and yelling,"_ Sarah thought, trying not cringe or laugh at the short man's fury. "I'm sorry. I just-" She pulled up her acting skills and forced tears. They came easily enough these days. "I needed to see my mom."

Victor, alarmed by her sudden tears, calmed down. He had no idea how to deal with crying, teenage girls. "Um. Vell, just go back to work." He walked away very fast, leaving Sarah to laugh with her fellow, shorter Sarah. As soon as their laughter was done, the other Sarah grabbed the brunette's elbow.

"What's wrong?"

"What? You mean why I left? Oh, well um-"

"No," she interrupted, "you look really upset."

"I was just fake crying," Sarah said, worrying if people could see her sadness as easily as Sarah had. She brought her voice down to a whisper, "Is it that obvious?" The strawberry blonde shook her head.

"No," she replied, "I just have a gift, and we kind of spent over six hours a day together for quite a while." The shorter Sarah offered the brunette a reassuring smile. "Come on. There's really not a lot you have to learn, but you're going to have to do some hard core conditioning today. Line drills first."

Both Sarahs went back and forth across the floor, doing everything from straight jumps to one legged tuck jumps and straddle jumps. When they'd finished that, the shorter Sarah spoke again, "Roundoffs and two footed cartwheels." After they went through several rounds of those two warm up moves, both were mildly out of breath.

"Okay, let's umm... stretch now," Sarah said, looking to the strawberry blonde for approval. The shorter Sarah nodded, and they slid into their splits. "Is today going to be hard like... really, really super hard? Like 'trying to moonwalk in heels on a rubber grip surface ' hard?"

The other Sarah laughed and nodded. "Yeah. Like 'trying to get big hair on a humid day' hard."

"Shit."

* * *

Okay. So this was only like... 4,500 words, but I hope it was worth it.


	12. Chapter 12

**For Keeps**

Sarah's been out of the Labyrinth for 6 month, and her seemingly instant maturity hasn't gone unnoticed. When Jareth shows up, seeking to understand how she beat him, things progress down a path neither could have anticipated. JS

**Disclaimer- All Standard Disclaimers Apply**

Chapter Twelve:

* * *

"I hate life." 

"That bad?" Stephen asked as Sarah slid into the back seat with a groan. She curled up on the back seat in the fetal position, sweat beaded on her brow. Her skin tight leotard was white up until the bust where it was candy apple red. The sweat stains around mid back were just the most chic fashion.

"Yeah," she replied. Her breathing was hard, and Sarah seemed less than pleased about it. "Can you turn up the music? I'd rather not listen to me panting like a dog."

"Especially when you sound like you're a dog in heat."

"Oh. Hey, Michelle," Sarah said, looking to the passenger seat at the grinning red head, "I didn't notice you there."

"No. You were too busy curling up into a ball." She relaxed her grin into a smile. "So guess what?"

Sarah's breathing eased up a bit. "What?" she asked suspiciously. Michelle's grin had been a bit too broad.

"We're going by your future boyfriend's work!" Sarah's brows knit together.

"What are you talking about?"

"She's talking about Mr. Tall, Dark, and Handsome Taco Bell guy," Stephen clarified as they pulled out of the gym's parking lot. Sarah's look of confusion instantly turned angry.

"I don't like either of you," she replied darkly. "You guys suck." Stephen and Michelle laughed while Sarah glared at the two of them.

"I love you, too, Sarah," Michelle said through her pealing laughter. Stephen stopped laughing and suddenly smiled. Michelle's laughter cut short, and both young women looked at Stephen.

"What? Michelle's laughter is like melodic bells," he said while shrugging. Michelle's face instantly turned into one of mock disgust mixed with some actual horror. Sarah just burst out laughing.

"Ain't love grand?" she said between her own pealing laughter. It wasn't as melodic as Michelle's, but Michelle was a soprano. Sopranos just have a more melodic sound to their laughter than mezzos.

"Laugh it up while you can, Theresa, 'cause you won't be laughin' when I get Mister Dark, Tall, and Handsome to make goo goo eyes at you," Michelle said, obviously not pleased.

"God, I love us," Sarah smiled. "We should- oh, my God! I love this song!" Sarah shouted, leaning forward and turning the volume knob on the radio up. Michelle rolled down her window and turned the volume up even higher. Michelle always did like her music loud. Sarah grinned, and Stephen pulled into the Taco Bell parking lot, Billy Idol's "Mony, Mony" blasting out the open window.

"Are we not doing the drive through?" Sarah asked, eyebrows lifting curiously.

"Nope. How else will Mr. Gorgeous check out your hot body?"

Sarah snorted and choked on her spit simultaneously. Once she finally was able to breathe again, she spoke, "You can't make me." Before Sarah could blink, Stephen was out his door and throwing her sweaty leotard- clad body over his shoulder. "What the hell!? Put me down!" Michelle got out of the car, laughing gleefully, and followed Stephen and the captured Sarah into Taco Bell. "You- You little brat! Stop being such a prick! Me. Down. Now. You fucking, arrogant asshole!" He kept walking. "I'll tell your mom that you want to go out with Michelle!!!" Stephen immediately set her down right inside the entrance. Sarah glared at her two friends. "I don't dislike you guys. I hate you. Both."

"Whatever. Hey," Michelle grinned, looking past Sarah to the exotic, gorgeous guy at the cash register. She shoved Sarah forward. The brunette glared at Michelle before turning to face the pubescent male with her mask of cool confidence.

"Hi. I'll have a burrito and a regular drink," she said coolly. She could hear Michelle and Stephen whispering behind her.

"I love how she can just compartmentalize like that," the redhead whispered to Stephen.

"I know," he replied, "it's like she just shifts everything else into a separate container to go through later." Sarah rolled her eyes. She moved aside so that Stephen and Michelle could order.

"Don't sweat it, guys. I'll pick up the tab," he said sarcastically to no one as the girls moved away.

"Is the brune-ette your gi-irlfriend?" the Indian boy asked.

"Um, no," Stephen replied, pausing as he looked at the other male's name tag, "Darius. She's not." Stephen glanced over at Sarah, who was filling her cup up with iced tea. "Why?" he grinned, "you like her?" There was an awkward silence between the two as Darius looked down at the cash register with his best fixed stare.

"Stephen, get your ass over here!"

"Duty calls." Stephen walked over to the girls. Michelle had on one of her scary, big grins.

"So what did he say?"

"What?"

"What," she said slowly, taking care to enunciate each word, "did the hunk say?"

"He thinks Sarah's hot," Stephen said, seating himself across from Michelle, whose face instantly turned into a mask of fury.

"STOP TRYING TO PLAY FOOTSY WITH ME!" Michelle shouted.

"W-what?" Sarah sputtered as she fought not to choke to death on the sip of iced tea she'd been taking. Which statement had her choking, though, was an entirely different question.

"Anyway," Stephen said, ignoring Michelle's outburst. "Are you going to go out with him? You should."

"I repeat: what?" Sarah looked incredulously at him. Stephen, who had been jealous even when she hadn't been seeing anybody, was now encouraging her to go out with some guy they saw through the drive through. "Love does make you do crazy things," she murmured, thinking of Jareth. She'd never asked him if… if he just loved her because of her mom or not. _"I kind of did get caught up in other stuff,"_ she thought, thinking of his lips on hers. Sarah shook off her thoughts as she noticed Michelle's twitching eye. "You've got an eye twitch," she said casually, taking a sip of her iced tea. It really wasn't safe to drink anything around her friends…

Michelle brought her hand up to her eye. "I'm going to the bathroom," she said haughtily, making sure to give Stephen a death glare as she made her way to the bathroom.

"O-order fo-orty two-o?"

"I'll get it," Sarah sighed, getting up as Stephen tossed some money at her. She stifled a glare and walked over to the counter. "Hi," she said as she picked up the tray. "Thanks." Everyday pleasantries were necessary, even if your friend gave the guy your number.

"Co-ould I have your number?" Sarah's eyebrows rose, and she looked at his face studiously. How did she not notice that he had green eyes? Sarah bit her lower lip as she tried to come up with a response better than the cold shoulder she wanted to give. She set down the tray.

"_God! I am cruel,"_ she thought. How could she just forget Jareth? She couldn't. She never would. _"That doesn't mean I can't…" _Sarah's thought trailed off as she came to the realization, _"I'll always love him. That doesn't mean I can't like someone else." _She smiled one of her radiant, pearly smiles at him. "Sure. You have a pen?"

"Yeah." He took one out from behind the counter and handed it to her. Sarah quickly scrawled out her number on the receipt.

"Here," she said, handing the piece of paper over to him. "Feel free to call until ten." Sarah picked up her tray and quickly turned on her heel. Michelle was already back at the table and laughing. _"She has the weirdest mood swings…"_

"I saw!" she chirped as Sarah set the tray down and slid onto her seat.

"Yeah," she looked off outside. Sarah found herself wishing she could see a barn owl out there. _"I can't," _she thought to herself. _"I can't keep wishing for him when I keep telling him no." _She smiled wryly. _"It's not fair. It's not fair to either of us."_

Jareth looked around, feeling quite pissed off. Sarah would not just push him away like that. He wouldn't allow it. His kingdom was having some interesting side effects from his power, to say the least. His subjects, everything living, felt pain overwhelming their being while his power was flexed. As soon as it receded, however, they had all become stronger. Somehow, they'd managed to absorb strength from him and not take any of his own power from him. It was like… _"Like nothing I've ever even heard of,"_ Jareth thought, sitting on all too familiar window sill. "What is happening?" He was angry. It was his job to take care of these beings, and he had no idea what was happening. To add to that trouble, he had the High King to deal with and Sarah.

"_I will not be defied,"_ he thought, _"by anyone, not even by her."_

Jareth felt a small tug at his being and realized who it was. "Sarah." He clenched his jaw and conjured a crystal. Sarah's image instantly appeared, but she wasn't alone. What really caught his eye, though, was not the red headed female or the blonde haired male. It was the clothing Sarah was wearing. _"Or lack of it,_" he thought. Was it really acceptable to wear so little clothing out in public now?

The Goblin King threw the crystal away, where it promptly disappeared in mid air, and he rubbed his temples with the tips of his fingers. _"Why is she being so difficult?" _

Jareth transported himself to his study and poured himself a drink or two. "Damn it, Sarah. Why the virtuous ideals?" he murmured to himself before throwing back the second shot of alcohol. Jareth wouldn't let her just ruin everything that had occurred between them. He was in love with her and had been for far longer than he cared to admit. She loved him back. _"So why does she push away? Oh, yes," _he thought facetiously, _"because she doesn't believe me capable of handling my kingdom." _

Jareth sat down and, placing his feet up on the desk, hooked one ankle around the other. He put his hands behind his head, staring down the expanse of his body dressed in black, and smirked. "Well, how arrogant of you, Sarah. Thinking yourself to have more foresight than me. We shall see. This isn't over."

When Sarah got home, it was past midnight, and the door was locked. _"Damn. I forgot my key." _She rubbed her hands up and down her arms. It was so cold. _"It's December. It should be cold."_

She ran around the house to the tree outside her window and climbed up quickly. _"If I keep at this climbing thing, I'll be able to scale the Goblin City's walls in no time,"_ she thought wryly. Once Sarah had successfully entered her room and put her shoes into her closet, she fell back onto her bed, arms spread wide. She sighed heavily. Suddenly, a fluttering of wings reached her ears, and her window flew open, allowing a barn owl to fly in and across to the opposite side of the room. Sarah sat up abruptly. Simultaneously, she felt as if her heart would swell with love and break with it. "Jareth," she breathed as he quickly transformed into his Fae form. She stood up as he did a quick surveillance of the room.

"Sarah," he addressed her, his voice full of his usual formality. There was just a touch of affection to it, too. "Felt like redecorating the room?" Sarah stayed silent, and he let his eyes rove over her body. "I'm afraid I left in such a rush last time that I wasn't fully able to..." he paused as if he was thinking of his next phrase, "express my sentiments regarding your ridiculous thoughts about our relationship." He walked slowly over to her, his eyes holding hers the entire way. "I don't take no for an answer, Sarah."

"That's rape," Sarah replied smartly, her heart beating wildly against her chest. He was so close to her, so very painfully close. Jareth stilled at her words, his body almost touching hers. Only a breath of air separated them.

"I," he said, anger flaring in his eyes, "would never stoop so low as to forcefully take something. You will consent, Sarah. So help me, you will." Sarah felt herself falling apart with him so close.

"No, Jareth. You don't get it. It's not that I won't. It's that I can't," she said, collapsing back onto her bed. She needed to lean back on to her elbows to look at Jareth's face. The heat that flared within her at his close proximity died just a bit with the space.

"So, obviously," he said, clenching his fists as he tried to restrain his fury, "you were lying last night, you childish brat." Sarah winced at his remark.

"I already told you," she replied, her voice choking up, "I love you. I'm not lying. It's the truth. I can't stop thinking about you. No matter what I do, wherever I am, I think about you. The only thing that keeps me sane, from breaking down completely..." She trailed off, finally feeling as if she could no longer keep looking him in the face. Sarah wasn't sure if it was because of her pride or if it was because of the crick she was developing in her neck. "It was just knowing that I had you for a bit. I brought your pillow with me to my mom's!"

"My pillow?" he said, eyebrows raised in curiosity.

"The one you used to always lie on. It smells like you."

"'Sarah, I fail to see your logic. You say that you have affections-"

"Love," she insisted.

"Yet," he continued, ignoring her interruption, "you say that our relationship would never work." He stood so that his legs were touching hers, and Sarah felt the heat in her rise with his nearness. Jareth reached out and pulled her to him. He held her arms just below the shoulders, holding all her weight effortlessly as her legs refused to hold her up. His breath was hot on her lips. "Is this not what you want, Sarah?"

"It doesn't matter what I want," she whimpered, trying not to show how much she wanted him to kiss her. "It doesn't matter."

Jareth released her back onto her bed and rubbed his temples. "You're infuriating." He closed his eyes for a moment, and when he opened them, Sarah was standing up right in front of him.

"You're the infuriating one! You can't even possibly understand what it means," she said, her voice quiet but full of anger, "to love someone so much that you just want to go to sleep and never wake up because you know you can't be together. Love is wanting the best for someone else, Jareth. It's not selfish desires."

"You're what's best for me, Sarah," he said, wrapping his arms around her. "Why can't you see that?"

"Jareth," she whispered, "you don't mean that. You can't-"

"Don't presume to know what's in my mind," he said. "For all you know, I could be intending to kiss you right now but won't until you unknowingly give your consent."

"Jareth..." Sarah couldn't say anything more, not when his firm body was melded so perfectly with hers, not when his breath was so hot on her lips.

"I think that was it," he murmured before pressing his lips to hers for the second time in two days. Sarah, against her higher brain function's commands, melted into his kiss.

Somewhere in her brain an alarm was going off, saying, "Selfish desires, Sarah! Selfish desires!" It didn't matter. She opened her mouth and threw her arms around his neck. Sarah wondered briefly where her inhibitions were when they fell back on her bed but cast the thought aside as his fingertips kneaded circles in her lower back brought a fire rushing through her veins. Jareth, however, pulled back and raised himself up above her in a push up position.

"How can you say that we don't belong together?" he murmured, staring down at her, his eyes drinking the sight of her. Sarah's hair was spread around her, laying upon the bed like an open fan. Her lips were pink and moist from their kiss, and her eyes were hazy from it, too.

"I never-" She couldn't think with him above her like that. It didn't look like he was going anywhere, though. "I never said that we don't."

"Then whatever is the problem?" She tried to shake off the haze he'd produced in her.

"I can't," she tried to wriggle out from under him but that only brought a physical reaction from the both of them; pelvis on pelvis will do that, "think." Sarah felt tears welling up. They brought her higher brain function back to her. "Jareth, I won't let our relationship ruin your kingdom." He leaned down.

"What makes you think our relationship will ruin it? All the little what's-their-names adore you after your run of the Labyrinth," he murmured, his lips brushing her left ear. Sarah involuntarily shuddered as it sent heated shocks down her spine. She put her hands to his chest and pushed as hard as she could. It didn't do much, but Jareth pulled back anyway. He stood up, away from her.

"You don't get it. Just go, Jareth. Don't come back. I can't just leave everything here," she said. Sarah was lying through her teeth, but the truth hadn't been working all too well. "I have a life, too, ya know!" She threw her hands up in the air, allowing herself to get caught up in the role she'd placed herself in. Jareth's jaw clenched as she got up from the bed and stood right in front of him.

"So now the truth comes out. You don't know what love is, Sarah. Despite all of the maturity you claim to have received, you're still just a naive child," he said, his voice and eyes masked with cruelty to hide the pain she was causing. "This is not over. I won't give up that easily." Jareth paused as he thought about the High King's letter. "It might be better if we don't see each other, though."

"That's what I've been saying," she snapped.

"Not for the reasons you think," he replied sharply. "This conversation is far from over, Sarah. I will return in six month's time, and you will submit to me."

"I won't surrender so easily either," she spat. Sarah felt her heart breaking within her._ "God. I think this is worse than a heart attack."_

"The game's barely begun, little girl," he said, "and I refuse to lose a second time." Jareth gathered her up in his arms one more time, and Sarah realized that this was probably the last chance she'd get to feel him so close since she would be casting him out the next time he came to her. Before he could do anything more, she went up on tip toe and kissed him ardently. Jareth responded similarly, and Sarah closed her eyes, allowing herself to be lost in the passion. When she pulled away, she turned around so that she wasn't touching him.

"Go," she whispered. When no reply came, Sarah turned around to find him gone. Tears welled up, and she allowed herself to cry for the rest of the night. Sleep didn't even come until dawn. When it did, Sarah had the most terrible dreams of something awful to come.

"Hey, Sarah! Did I wake you?"

Sarah glanced at her clock from her bed as she brought a hand up to block the incoming sun from her eyes._ "Two hours of sleep. Yippee,"_ she thought sarcastically. "Of course not, Michelle. The phone ringing woke me up."

"Ha ha," she said, mimicking Sarah's sarcasm. "You sound like hell. Did something happen?"

"Just a bad night," she replied. _"You don't even know the half of it..."_ Sarah shook her head. "I assume you called for a reason?"

"Oh, yeah! Well, um, Stephen wanted us to tell you together in person, but I really couldn't wait. I kissed Stephen, so, now we're an item," she said, speaking far too fast for any average person to understand. Fortunately, Sarah isn't an average person.

"I thought you were totally against his Harvard self, Miss Yale," Sarah replied, blinking in an effort to take in all the information Michelle just told her via phone.

"Well, I was, but, Sarah, he's such a good kisser!"

_"Not as good as Jareth..."_ Sarah thought, recalling last night. "Umm. That's kind of creepy for me to think about, Michelle. I'd rather not picture my two best friends going at it, if it's all the same to you." Sarah ducked underneath her covers. "I'll talk to you guys about this later, when I'm not in morning fog land."

"Tonight?"

Sarah shook her head before realizing that Michelle couldn't see it. "Can't. I'm just going to stay home and actually go through the rest of my suit cases. They've been laying around..."

"Oh. Okay!" Michelle hung up.

"Well, 'bye to you, too, Michelle," Sarah said facetiously into the phone before hanging it up, too. She sighed heavily and laid in bed for another hour before realizing that she wasn't going to go back to sleep. _"Damn." _She threw her silk cover off and dragged herself over to her dresser. _"Yay gymnastics,"_ she thought angrily as she changed into her leotard. _"I wish this wasn't so difficult."_

"Good, Sarah! I think you only have to finish the week, and then you'll be able to start filming."

The brunette blinked slowly before her face turned into an expression of sheer astonishment. "Really, Victor?"

"Yes. Did I not just say that? Yes," he repeated. Sarah closed her mouth, which she hadn't realized had flown open like a prom girl's legs.

"Oh, God. Wow, Victor, um tha-" Sarah stopped as he had just turned and walked away. "What is with everyone and not saying goodbye today?" she said, staring off angrily at his back. "First, Jareth, then, Michelle, and now Victor!"

"What about Victor?" Sarah whipped around to see the other Sarah coming towards her. "He's crazy? Wow, Sarah. You're behind in the times. We already established that about four years ago this Christmas." Both Sarahs grinned.

"So, how's life since... yesterday?" the brunette asked. The strawberry blonde simply shrugged.

"It's all good. I keep tanking my double pikes on floor, but I got my giants!" she beamed.

"Congrats! Thank God I don't have to learn giants. I can't even think about attempting a double back dismount off bars," Sarah replied.

"Yeah, well, umm... you've got acting?" the strawberry blonde offered. Sarah smiled despite her best attempt at a straight face.

"Gee, thanks, Sarah. Your reassurance is what gets me through the day."

"Speaking of Christmas," the shorter Sarah responded.

"Which we weren't-"

"Is there anything you want?"

"Oh, wow. Sarah, you don't have to do that. I mean, um," Sarah tried to think back and recall what they were doing for Christmas, "Oh! We're having a Christmas party! Why don't you come, and we'll call that my gift." The other Sarah folded her arms across her chest.

"Nice try."

"I thought so," Sarah grinned. "Now, come on. If I get my round off back handspring double backs by the end of this week, then I'll be finished." They made their way over to the floor.

"You already have all your skills on beam?"

"Yup." Sarah beamed.

"Damn."

"So... tired..." Sarah dragged herself up the stairs of her home. Robert was now in the kitchen, and Irene was gussying up as usual. Once Sarah successfully ran the gauntlet known as 'the stairs,' she landed in a heap on her bed. She didn't even bother to turn on the lights in her room, which was only lit by the crystalline moon and glistening stars outside. "I miss sleep." She rubbed her arms. "I miss warm weather, too. I'm going to have to start wearing sweats over my leo." She brought herself away from her bed with a scowl on her face. It had felt so soft... almost as soft as Jareth's lips. Sarah shook her head. She couldn't think about that. Not now. She'd think about it later. She looked in the mirror and felt nostalgia sweep over her. She thought to that time when she'd been sitting there, and Jareth had come so close to her. Always so achingly close and always so achingly far. "Jareth," she tried to call. Nothing happened, though. This perplexed Sarah. "Hoggle?" Still, there was nothing. "Ludo? Sir Didymus?" Nothing greeted her but her reflection. She didn't know that Jareth had placed a spell to keep her from contacting the Underground. Any contact would be too dangerous for his heart's desire. Sarah walked over to her suitcases and began unpacking, trying to come up with a reason as to why the mirror wasn't working.

"This is definitely the worst and best forty eight hours of my life," she thought as she finished a suit case. She moved onto the next one and noticed the 'Chutes and Ladders box. "Oh, hey. Maybe Toby and I can play this tomorrow," she took out the box and sat on her bed as she set it on her lap. She opened up the box top, and everything in her body stilled. Even her breath caught in her throat. "Oh, God." She slowly reached into the box and pulled out the crystal.

"What the-?" She stared into it, wondering just how the hell it had appeared in the box. "I wish I could speak to Mom about this." Sarah had barely voiced the thought aloud when her reflection in the crystal swirled around to reveal an image of her mother lounging around on the couch while watching the news. Linda, however, quickly turned around and looked straight into Sarah's eyes. She didn't seem as surprised as Sarah did, though.

"Oh, good. You found it!" she said, getting up off the couch and approaching so that her image looked at Sarah like she was looking into a bubble or the distorted image you get in a faucet.

"How is this even possible?"

"I don't know how, but the crystal uses mirrors. I used to spy on Uncle Charlie from my room, but I guess I sort of forgot," she smiled at her daughter. "So how have things been going?"

"Good, I guess. I mean, Dad was really understanding. He said you talked to him. Oh, God, Mom! You should have seen the look on Irene's face when he said that. She was positively livid. If her skin could change colors, which I'm not entirely unsure it can't, she'd have been green."

"Oh, I miss you, honey," Linda said, loving the way Sarah has stayed so youthful while maturing at the same time. Sarah smiled.

"I miss you, too."

"So umm... why exactly was this crystal in here? Does it contact the Underground, too?" Sarah asked.

"I-" Linda hesitated, looking slightly befuddled, "Yes?" She looked away before facing her daughter again. "Anyway, why so glum?" Linda asked, looking studiously at her daughter's face, which was half covered by her cascading hair.

"What?"

"You look sad."

"Oh," Sarah said. The noncommittal phrase was fast becoming her most commonly said one, too. "Jareth, he- He came to visit me. We…we kissed, and apparently, my physical libido knows how to override my emotional one." She tossed her hair behind her shoulder. "But, Mom, he said that he-"

"He didn't!" Linda exclaimed, catching on. _"Please not sex, please not sex, please not…"_

"He did!"

"So he danced and sang the National Anthem for you..." she trailed off, hoping Sarah would laugh at her poor attempt to alleviate the tension. This left Sarah with a very perplexed look on her face. "I'm kidding, Sarah." Sarah rolled her eyes.

"I told him that I loved him, and then," Sarah hesitated, wondering whether or not to voice her thoughts about Jareth's affections merely being a continuance of her mother. She decided against it. "Then, he said that he loved me, too. I was so happy and so devastated at the same time. I told him we couldn't be together. He just didn't get it, Mom." There were tears in Sarah's eyes. "And I just- I couldn't make him understand, so I told him it was because I had a life that I wasn't willing to leave."

"Oh, Sarah."

"I know. Then, he left, but he said that he wasn't giving up on us. He said that-" A sob escaped Sarah's lips before she could stop it. "He said he would come back in six months, and then, we would be together. I got so mad. I just said that I would never lose to him. Then, he said that the game was far from over. He makes me so infuriated. He's just so irritating, and yet, every little irritating, self- centered habit makes me love him all the more. I miss him so much, Mom."

"I know, honey. I know."

"He just- I hurt him when I said I wouldn't go back with him because of my life here. He would never take me by force. There wouldn't be any fun in that. He wants to make me want him, want to go back with him. He doesn't understand that I do. I do love him. I love him so much it hurts." Sarah sobbed and couldn't stop the tears.

"Men seldom understand anything beyond their own physical libido," Linda said. Sarah's jaw dropped as she looked at her mother in disbelief.

"I can't believe you'd actually say something so sexist, Mom."

"You're right. I'm sorry. It's just- I don't like seeing you hurting, honey."

"What? Do you think I like being this way? Do you think that I like crying myself to sleep every night? I love him, simple as that. Because of that, his happiness comes first," Sarah replied, her stalwart will hardening like a diamond. "My happiness doesn't matter." She squeezed her eyes shut to keep the tears away.

"I don't think you do. I think- I think that you really need to just- I don't know, Sarah. But, no. I don't think that you do like what you are putting yourself through. But, honey, if you feel that this is what you must do, then stop torturing yourself. Get over him. You will love him, and, that's okay. Once you love someone, they never really leave you. They are always in your heart and in your thoughts, just not in the front of your head. Their memory will always be there in your mind. The pain will ease with time," Linda replied, trying to come up with the best solution for Sarah. She wanted to be a good mother to Sarah, but there was so much that she herself didn't understand about love, like with Robert. She had loved him so much, and then when the marriage went down the drain, it made things just a tad bit difficult.

"Yeah. Well. I'm just going to um, go to sleep now," Sarah said, looking over at her bed. "I love you, Mom."

"I love you, too, Sarah."

Then, the crystal faded out. Sarah was left in her room, holding the crystal. She looked into it and wished as hard as she could to see Jareth. Sarah was surprised when his image swirled into appearance. She fell off her bed, her lower body tightening achingly when the image settled. She'd just seen him in a bath. A most extraordinary bath, too. And he was naked. _"Apparently, whatever you did to block the mirror, Jareth, didn't stop this little slice,"_ she thought, settling her thoughts and heated body down. It was painful to know she'd never be with him. That didn't mean she couldn't look, though._ "I think I'm going to enjoy this slice, Jareth. Very much."_

That's when the phone rang. Sarah mentally cursed God and everything else that might have something to do with this untimely call. "Hello?" she snapped into the phone.

"He-ey, Sarah. Wanna go-o to the mo-ovies Fri-iday?"

_"Oh, crap."

* * *

_

Okay. So this was written while watching Scrubs, which, by the way, is the best show ever. They've had "Under Pressure" in an episode. OMG! That commercial with Under Pressure in it? Has anyone else seen it? I was in my room, and my sister comes in, shouting, "OMG! There's a commercial with 'Under Pressure' on right now." You better believe I got my cute butt out there and worshipped that commercial.

Anyway- David Bowie is a god. Wait. I'm Catholic: David Bowie is THE God. Lol. Peace out!

OH. hey. THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH! For the hits, I mean. I'm almost at 6,000. I think. I have to go check... HOLY CRAP! Almost 10,000. Holy shit. THANKS, EVERYBODY!


	13. Chapter 13

**For Keeps**

Sarah's been out of the Labyrinth for 6 months, and her seemingly instant maturity hasn't gone unnoticed. When Jareth shows up, seeking to understand how she beat him, things progress down a path neither could have anticipated. JS

**Disclaimer- All Standard Disclaimers Apply**

Chapter Thirteen:

* * *

"Sarah, she didn't mean anything by it, honest. She was just trying to-" 

"Just trying to use me to kill her guilt! If Irene thinks that by picking up the phone on my phone call and telling some guy she doesn't even know that I'll go out with him is going to make me be the perfect daughter, then she must be out of her mind," Sarah replied from the front passenger seat of the '84 Chevrolet. The leather seat was cold under the silk fabric of her skirt. She ran her hand over the smooth, soft material and stared intently down at the vibrant purple and forest green of the skirt. Silver thread was skillfully woven into the material so that it popped up in places like glistening stars. Sarah cursed her choice of skirt over jeans; the jeans would have been a lot warmer. She glared darkly out the window at the sky outside. It was gray and overcast. _"Kind of like my mood."_

"I think she was just trying to help, Sarah. I'd like it better if you never dated and just went into a convent, but-" he broke off with a smile. Sarah smiled in return. Her dad was trying. He'd even asked Irene to stay home with Toby, so they could have a father- daughter night out.

_"Hell, we even sort of match,"_ she thought, looking at his black slacks and forest green dress shirt. He was wearing a snow white silk tie that Linda had bought him the Christmas before their divorce. How he could wear it was beyond Sarah. "That doesn't give her the right to go and say yes on my behalf for something like that!" Sarah said hotly to her father. "It's..." Sarah stopped before saying another word and thought about it for a moment. Irene couldn't help it. This was in her nature. It wasn't like she would die just because Irene thought that she should be dating. Sarah needed to stop being so stubborn, even though it was in her nature. Hadn't her stubbornness hurt enough people? She sighed. "It's fine, Dad. Really," Sarah smiled. "It's fine."

"Good. So what are we seeing?" Robert asked, happy that his daughter was becoming more reasonable. She'd been so volatile for a while. Truth be told, he had no idea how to deal with a hormonal, teenage girl. Linda had known what to do. Neither he nor Irene knew how to handle Sarah. Her sudden acceptance and maturity lately had really relieved him. For a few months, it had looked like she was going to get out of control. He smiled at his daughter.

"Don't know, don't care," Sarah grinned. "We'll decide when we get there."

* * *

"So what happened?" 

"We just went to the movies and then dinner afterwards. I don't know. It was nice. I mean, he was trying really hard. We talked, you know, about my mom and the divorce and stuff. I think he was holding something back, though. It doesn't matter. Everyone has secrets. Parents aren't any different, right?"

"Well, most parents are like that," Michelle responded as she flounced onto Sarah's bed by the window while Sarah sat above her on the window seat. "Mine isn't. My mom's like, 'Hey! Guess what? I just had a really foul bowel movement.' That leaves me sort of like, 'Uhh... thanks, Mom. Thanks.' Or, there's my favorite, 'Honey, I'm going out on a date tonight. If I'm not back when you wake up, then don't you worry.' Yeah. That's always fun. Who doesn't like worrying whether or not their mother is contracting STD's while they're sleeping?" Michelle said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. She caught sight of Sarah's face.

"Oh, sorry, Sarah. Too much information?"

Sarah shook her head. "No. I probably would have heard it the next time I go to your house," she replied with a smile. "But umm... aren't you supposed to be doing my hair and be telling me about how _Stephen _finally captured you"

"Right. My boyfriend and your Mr. Gorgeous," Michelle said, smiling at the chance to NOT talk about her mother. She got up and walked over to the vanity. Sarah followed her and sat down at the seat. Michelle set to work on her hair.

"I don't know much about Mr. Gorge-"

"His name is Darius."

"I don't know much about Darius, but I do know that Stephen talked to him the other night, something about passing the 'Stephen Bonizzi Test.' I don't know. I just date him. Oh! Right! Yeah, so Stephen shows up at my house and asks me out again, and I thought about it. I don't know why. It must've been the red wine my mom and I were having with dinner. Anyway, I thought about it, and I was like, 'Why not? Stephen's been my friend since we were kids. We haven't grown apart, and we actually challenge each other. He's hot, too.' That was when I realized that I didn't see him in a brotherly way anymore. I was seeing him as a man." Sarah snorted as Michelle stuck a bobby pin into Sarah's hair. "Well, not a man, but you get the picture. So I told him yes, and he crushed me into one of those swinging, hug things before kissing me." She sighed. "And man! Is he ever a good kisser." She covered Sarah's eyes and sprayed all her locks with hairspray.

"I've kissed better." Sarah froze when she realized what she'd just said aloud. "Crap," Sarah said under her breath.

"You kissed him?" Michelle asked frigidly. Her eyes held anything but frost. They were more like burning with angry fire.

"He kissed me."

"Did you kiss him back?"

"I ran away, so, no." Sarah turned around to face Michelle. "What's the deal? I thought you didn't even really like him anyway!" Michelle blushed deeply. "You've liked him this whole time!" Sarah's eyes widened. "Hasn't anyone told you about what his eyes say when he looks at you, Michelle, when he thinks no one is looking? He really likes you. Hell, I'd even say he loves you!" Michelle's jaw clenched as she quickly thought of the problem that had been bugging both her and Stephen.

"Do you know what your eyes say when you think no one is looking? Heartbreak, Sarah. Everyone knows you were seeing someone. No one knows who. I didn't want to push it, but you've been so sad, Sarah. Heartbroken. For a while, you were really happy. What happened?" Michelle retorted. "I thought I was your friend who you could tell everything to."

"No one knows who he is. He was-" Sarah closed her mouth. She didn't need to tell Michelle. Peter and her mom knew. No one else needed to know. Michelle deserved some explanation, though. "I was in love with him. I still am. I love him, Michelle. He was older though, legal and all. I- I broke things off. Not because I didn't love him and not because of any degree of unfaithfulness! I just- I loved him so much it hurt. It still hurts! I even wrote a song about it!"

"I wanna read it!" Michelle exclaimed. "Where?" Sarah bit her lip. It couldn't hurt. Not any more than it already did.

"Under the pillow on the love seat." Michelle went to claim the paper, and Sarah looked herself over in the mirror. Her face, which was made up in its usual manner, was framed by two locks of spiraling curls on either side. The rest of her hair was pulled up in a cascading curl style. The silver clip that kept the high end part back was crystal encrusted. Tear drop crystals surrounded an octagon shaped crystal to form a flower. A large one sat in the middle while two medium sized flowers flanked it on either side. Smaller formations filled in the rest of the space. Sarah's hair cascaded down her back, a little past her shoulders, in a torrent of waves. _"How'd she do that without a curling iron?"_ Sarah eyed the gel and then looked back to her hair. It looked soft. She touched hair. Looks were deceiving. It was stiff. _"Scrunching. Of course." _

"This is so good, Sarah. Can you sing it?" Sarah got up from her chair and snatched the paper.

"What?"

"Can you sing it, tardo?"

"I can if you address me properly," Sarah replied, staring down her nose at Michelle, who placed herself on Sarah's previous seat. She sat down with legs on either side, clutching the back of the chair to her chest.

"Why don't you stick out your tongue while you're at it, Your High and Mightiness?"

"My coach likes it when I control my tricks," Sarah replied, looking over the lyrics and trying to recall the tune. She'd just written it last night when she was thinking how much Jareth had told her and how much he had kept from her when it came to his kingdom and the Underground. She was also thinking about their relationship, how much she loved him, how much he didn't understand, and all the stuff going on between them. She cleared her throat.

"Go." Michelle looked at her expectantly. Sarah shot her a glare. "All right, I'm shutting up."

Sarah looked down at the lyrics and recalled the music she'd imagined.

_"Jareth is over and Jareth is gone  
Jareth's decided it's time to move on  
Jareth has new dreams he's building upon  
And I'm still hurting_

_Jareth's arrived at the end of the line  
Jareth's convinced that the problems are mine  
Jareth is probably feeling just fine  
And I'm still hurting_

_What about lies, Jareth?  
What about things  
That you swore to be true  
What about you, Jareth  
What about you?_

_Jareth is sure something wonderful died  
Jareth decides it's his right to decide  
Jareth's got secrets he doesn't confide  
And I'm still hurting_

_Go and hide and run away  
Run away, run and find something better  
Go and ride the sun away  
Run away like it's simple  
Like it's right..._

_Give me a day, Jareth  
Bring back the lies  
Hang them back on the wall  
Maybe I'd see  
How you could be  
So certain that we  
Had no chance at all_

_Jareth is over and where can I turn?  
Covered with scars I did nothing to earn  
Maybe there's somewhere a lesson to learn  
But that wouldn't change the fact  
That wouldn't speed the time  
Once the foundation's cracked  
And I'm  
Still Hurting."_

"That was so beautiful. I'm sorry, Sarah. So sorry." Michelle hugged her friend. Sarah hadn't realized that she had started crying until after she started singing. "Time will heal it."

"There's nothing to do to speed it up, though," Sarah sniffled as she clutched Michelle's shirt. "There's no one to speed it up." She thought of Jareth's reordering of time. He couldn't do that now to fix this pain. "It hurts so bad."

"I know, Sarah. I know. I'm sorry," Michelle whispered, holding Sarah as she sobbed. When the door bell rang, she let out a hiccupped laugh.

"Now, my make up is ruined," she said, wiping underneath her eyes at the smeared mascara and eyeliner. Michelle grabbed the make up off the top of the vanity.

"Here," she said, touching it up. "All fine. Go and have fun, Sarah. Unless-"

"No. I'll go. It's best if I do," she replied. "You can go if you want."

"You'll need some alone time after this, then?"

"Yeah. Thanks, Michelle."

"No, Sarah. No need to thank me. It's what friends do. They're there when you need them."

* * *

Jareth sat in his throne room, listening to the final notes of Sarah's song. He hadn't expected that. He'd been about to go and see what Didymus knew when her voice echoed through the halls. _"Lies?" _He shook his head. He would have to think about this later. For now… The Goblin King waved his hand, sending a summons to Didymus with it. He immediately answered, and Jareth was suddenly in his throne room. Pleasantries were the farthest thing from the Goblin King's mind. 

"Sir Didymus, I was hoping that you may have heard something from those poor excuses for espionage agents that may have given away who sent them. Did you hear anything?"

Didymus looked at his sovereign, curious of Jareth and careful to make sure he kept his eyes sighted slightly below Jareth's. One never looked above one's king. "I did not, Your Majesty. Perhaps Prince Hoggle may have. He art more observant than I when it comes to strangers." Didymus' eyes flickered towards Jareth's and then back down. The Goblin King looked a tad bit on the tired side. "Milord?"

"Yes?"

"Have you heard from Lady Sarah? Prince Hoggle, mine brother Ludo, and I hath been wondering as to how she fares. With the spells in place- doth the Lady face danger?"

Jareth stared down at the knight, and, instead of giving him a tongue lashing, sighed. "No. And- she's being ridiculous and won't see me, anyway."

"Why, Your Highness?"

Jareth looked sharply at Didymus. "I was hoping you would know. Nothing I've come up with seems to be logical." Didymus' eyes flickered again to Jareth's.

_"He loves her..."_ He cleared his throat. "Well, Milord. Love is seldom logical, is it not? One canst not look at something logically if it itself is not logical. Perhaps methinks a simpler approach is needed. Perhaps speaking to someone who hath been in her company longer than I have would understand what the Lady is feeling. Prince Hoggle spent more time with Lady Sarah than I. Perhaps Lady Sarah simply is afraid of her love? She is, after all, a lady," Didymus replied, looking at Jareth again with wary eyes. The Goblin King has been even more mercurial than usual. There'd been rumors of his violent temper being taken out on goblins, dwarves, and even some poor rose bushes.

"I don't think she's afraid of her emotions, Didymus," he said. Jareth hated confiding to others. He saw it as a weakness. Any sort of dependency or crutch was something he loathed, but he was not fool enough to try and figure out Sarah on his own. _"Not anymore, anyway."_ Jareth sighed. "Perhaps she is still afraid of me."

"Lady Sarah does not fear you, Your Highness. The Lady is relatively fearless," Didymus replied, keeping his hand near his sword but not conspicuously so. He knew it was ridiculous. If he actually had reason to take out his sword, it would not be enough to stay Jareth. He was the King of the Goblins and a Fae. There was no chance.

"I hope you are right, Didymus. For the Goblin Kingdom's sake, I hope you are right," Jareth said, a malicious glint in his eyes as he turned to face out the window. He waved a hand, and Didymus knew he should leave. He hesitated before speaking.

"Sire? May I ask you a personal question?"

Jareth remained silent with his back turned. After a moment, he waved his hand in acquiescence. Didymus gulped. "Why dost thou insist on pursuing the Lady Sarah?" Jareth spun around, and Didymus knew from the fire behind Jareth's eyes that the rumors were true. Luckily for him, Jareth simply transported him back to the Bog.

The goblins were not so fortunate as Jareth viciously kicked several out of the high tower window. He couldn't allow himself another episode. Another letter from Oberon had just come that day. _"Why not just come here to look into my kingdom yourself?"_ he thought angrily as he seated himself down at his desk. His thoughts quickly drifted over to Sarah. Didymus hadn't known anything or heard any information from the spies that might give just the slightest intimation of who they were sent by. When pressed, he hadn't even known anything about Sarah's feelings.

_"She would be such a magnificent queen,"_ he thought to himself as he transported out of his study and to his room. He was surprised at the thought and quickly shook it off. Love and marriage did not necessarily go hand in hand. Jareth went into his bathroom. The main theme seemed to be a whole lot of white. There was a huge, sunken white marble bath that sat in the middle of the white marble floor. Sheer, white curtains hung over a huge window that took up one entire side of the wall. White ivory open roses stood on either side of an ivory swan, whose mouth formed the faucet and opened up into the bath. A rose shaped stopcock on the neck of the swan allowed for control of the water flow.

None of the white really reflected his mood, though. Jareth let water spill into the sink from the smaller white swan on the sink's counter. He splashed the water onto his face and let the water drain between his fingers as kept his hands over his face. He brought his hands to the edge of the counter and clenched it. He stayed that way for a moment, thinking. Why was he so persistent in having Sarah? He had recognized her mother in the photo, but he hadn't made the connection before. Why hadn't John mentioned Linda's name? He had remembered her from her time in the Labyrinth. She had nearly beaten him in a game of 'Chutes and Ladders. Did Sarah know about her mother? Surely Linda must have told her. "_Does that silly girl think that my intentions are only because of her mother?"_ he thought, suddenly remembering Sarah's face when he'd been looking at the photo album.

_"I think I'll go pay Hoggle a visit."_

* * *

"Thanks, Darius! I had a lot of fun. I didn't expect to- I mean! The opera? Do you take every girl there on a first date?" Sarah exclaimed. The aforementioned Darius looked straight out onto the road. 

"Just the pretty ones. You're the second," he replied in a rich, deep voice without a crack. He hadn't cracked once all night.

"Could I ask you a personal question?" she asked.

"Sure."

"Why hasn't your voice cracked all night? Did your voice changes just stop? Because, I mean, it sounded like you were right in the throes of it at work," Sarah said, blushing in embarrassment. To her surprise, Darius laughed. It was rich and throaty, but it didn't have that nearly touchable quality that Jareth's could sometimes have.

"That's just an act to keep the super shallow girls away," he replied, smiling. He pulled into Sarah's driveway and got out of the car to open her door.

"Thanks," she said, trying not to blush too much at his chivalry. He walked with her up to the door. "Well, um. Thanks for the night. I'll um... be seeing you again?"

"Next Friday, if it's all right with you."

"Perfect." Before he could lean in for a kiss, Sarah opened the door, slipped in, and shut it. She leaned back on the door, breathing a heavy sigh. Sarah looked up when she heard a noise and saw Irene waiting up for her. Sarah scowled in annoyance. Irene could be so irritating.

"So how'd it go?"

"Lovely, Irene," Sarah said through gritted teeth. "Now, I'm going to go to my room if it's all fine and dandy with you." She didn't allow her step mother any time to respond and ran up the stairs. Sealed safely in her sanctuary, Sarah let herself cry. The opera he had taken her to was Madame Butterfly. Madame Butterfly had waited and waited for her love to return from the United States like he said he would, but he never came. She had just kept holding on. Sarah knew Jareth would be back. He kept his word, but that didn't change the fact that she had identified with Madame Butterfly. To be in love with a person and not be able to be with them, that was something she understood all too well. Sarah threw herself on her bed and realized her radio was on_. "Toby..."_ she thought. He had taken to playing in her room again.

"I see it now  
Becomes so clear  
Your insincerity  
And me all starry-eyed  
To think that I would have known by now…"

A surprised sob found its way out of Sarah's throat in response to the Asia song. That was not cool. _"That was just cruel..."_ She turned her radio off and snuggled down under her covers. _"Very, very cruel."_

* * *

"Hogsbrain!" 

"It's Hoggle!"

Jareth waved a hand of nonchalance at the dwarf as he materialized in the small castle he'd given Hoggle as a home in the Bog. Hoggle was seated on the throne, a mini replica of Jareth's own throne. Jareth had to duck to avoid hitting his head in the small structure. "Did you hear anything about those spies? Anything that might indicate as to who they were sent by?"

"Why should I tell you anythin'?" Hoggle said, feeling grumpy that Jareth just intruded into his privacy. The Goblin King shot him a glare as he clenched and unclenched his right hand into a fist. "Right," he nodded. "I didn't really hear nothin'. I did hear somethin' about one of them not really likin' the 'Young Lord.' Don't know if that helps."

"Thanks, Hogwart." Jareth gave him a curt nod.

"It's Hoggle!" the dwarf said, stamping his foot.

"Of course it is," Jareth replied, flashing pointed teeth in a wicked smile. "Now, if you happen to remember any information, don't hesitate in coming in for an audience." Jareth turned around but stopped. "Oh, and Hoggle?"

"Yes?"

Jareth turned slowly around to face Hoggle. "Why, do you think, would Sarah refuse an offer of courtship from me?"

Hoggle snorted. "Because you-" he glared at Jareth, "are an ass." Jareth laughed at that.

"Oh, really. I could've sworn that was you," Jareth said, gesturing to a mirror on one of the walls. Hoggle looked over to see his reflection in the mirror and yelped. The glamour showed him to have a donkey's head instead of his own. "Good bye, Hoggle." Jareth dematerialized back to the Goblin Castle.

"Didymus!" Hoggle shouted, running out of his mini castle and to Sir Didymus' abode.

"What is ever the matter, my friend?" Didymus cried out as he ran to meet Hoggle outside of his home.

"Two things. Is my head a donkey's?" Hoggle gasped.

"No, it is not." Hoggle sighed in relief.

"And why is Jareth so keen on Sarah?" he asked after a few moments reclaiming his breath from the sprint.

"His Majesty has been courting the maiden for over a month now." Sir Didymus looked at him knowledgeably. "That was how any of us were released. It was the Lady Sarah."

"Sarah wouldn't- she hates him," Hoggle said defensively.

"Art thou trying to convince me? Or thyself?" Didymus responded, understanding his friend's emotions.

"Sarah freed us... How do you think she went about that?"

Didymus was about to speak but thought twice. He was sure what Jareth had unknowingly revealed to him had been in confidence. "I knoweth not. The Lady Sarah art a marvelous woman."

"Yeah," Hoggle replied, looking off to the forest, "She is."

* * *

Jareth paced the length of his study with an intense determination. Hoggle hadn't known anything, and he'd spent more time with Sarah than anyone. "I actually spent more time with her, but…" Jareth trailed off in his thought. Who had spent more time with Sarah and understood her better than he? "Linda." Jareth snapped his fingers in appreciation of his own genius. He waved a hand and held up a mirror that appeared in the other hand. 

"What is it, Jareth? You're not one to call without reason, and Sarah isn't here," John said, looking into a nearby mirror of his own that Jareth had appeared in.

"Yes, yes. I need to speak with Linda. Please lower the wards you have placed."

"I would have thought that you could at least transport past them, Jareth," John said, smirking at the Goblin King.

"John," Jareth said in a warning tone. John raised his hands up in an apologetic gesture.

"All right, all right. No need to threaten," he replied. "The barriers will be gone for the next half hour. Allow me five minutes to remove them." John disappeared from Jareth's sight, and the Goblin King stared at the spot he had previously occupied.

_"Something is not right..."_

John reappeared a few minutes later. "The barrier is down, Jareth." You have the next half hour, but after that, it goes up again." John was about to seal his end but stopped. "Oh, and Linda doesn't know I'm Fae. I'd prefer to keep it that way."

"Of course." Jareth nodded. "I will be there soon."

"Jareth!" Linda fell off of her couch and landed in a heap of limbs. The Goblin King stood by the pink recliner, where he had just materialized.

"Linda," he said with a nod of his head. "I haven't the time to exchange pleasantries." Linda scrambled back onto the couch.

"Yes, of course," Linda replied. This was rather… unexpected to say the least. _"What the hell?"_ Linda shook her heard and survey Jareth in a glance. The Goblin King hadn't aged at all, but he did look more tired than she remembered. "I take it you're here because of Sarah." Linda was trying to decide whether or not to yell at him for being a pervert or acquiesce to him in whatever it is he wanted.

"I love your daughter, Linda, even before I met her. It's something we Fae seem to have a knack for, but I don't know what to say to get Sarah to understand. She seems to think some nonsense about the nobility of the Underground being against a human queen." Linda decided to acquiesce to him, deciding also that Jareth couldn't help the fact that he loved her daughter. Linda remembered a book where she read the quote, "We never know where we will find love." It was true.

"Well, wouldn't they?" Linda responded. Jareth smiled in a flash of slightly pointed teeth.

"Anyone who knows basic lore on Fae would know the answer to that," he replied.

"That wasn't an answer. And why are you speaking to me and not Sarah?" She looked at Jareth curiously, remembering that she was, in fact, hosting a king. "Would you care for anything to drink?"

"Because," Jareth paused, thinking of something that wasn't a lie but wouldn't give too much away, "of circumstances beyond my control. And no."

"Uh huh," Linda said, looking as skeptical as she sounded. "My question, Jareth?"

_"Like mother like daughter,"_ Jareth though with a wry smile. "Yes." His smile turned pleasant, empty, a blank face he sometimes used to hide his true feelings. "They would." Jareth held his chin just a bit higher and clenched his jaw. "But I am the Goblin King. What I say will happen, and I will court whom I choose no matter what some insolent nobles may want or think."

"Why do you want to know about Sarah?" Jareth moved and sat down onto the pink recliner with effortless grace. Linda felt her hands go clammy. He didn't move like human beings. The way he practically glided over was with the use of muscles in places people didn't have muscles in. Linda wasn't so sure about him now.

"I am simply curious as to your daughter's mindset where I am concerned. I am right to assume that you do have this knowledge?" Jareth looked at Linda with his most pleasant face. Linda was still trying to decide whether or not she should scream at him and order him from her home or continue listening. "I love Sarah, Linda. I'm cold while she's passionate. We are entirely different species, but I do love her. I simply want to know where she stands about me."

"Well," Linda sighed. She believed him now. She wouldn't yell at the Goblin King. "You have to understand, Jareth, Sarah will play the martyr until the end. She's a dreaming idealist who will hold strong to her ideals even after her world crumbles. She wants the Goblin Kingdom to stay how she remembers it, stable and fun. She doesn't want anything to happen to you. Like I said, she martyrs herself needlessly."

"Well, that makes perfect sense. Why couldn't she have said that instead of the nonsense she babbled out. First the heroine, now the martyr. I wonder what Sarah will do next?" Jareth said aloud, smiling a flash of pointed teeth as he stood up again. "Thank you very much, Linda. It was a pleasure to see you again." Linda stood as well, realizing that he was leaving. Jareth was about to transport out but stopped. "Oh, I nearly forgot. Give my regards to Margaret." Linda stared at the spot where he had stood long after he had already disappeared.

_"That was odd..."_

* * *

"The opera?" 

"Yep."

"The opera!"

"Yup."

"DAMN, Sarah! When's you next date!" Michelle slid off of Sarah's bed and onto the floor where Sarah was sitting.

"I don't know. Probably when I get back from filming. The better question, though, is what's my next date?" Sarah answered with a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. Michelle looked her straight in those unsmiling green eyes.

"You don't have to keep dating him, you know? I mean, I gave him your number in the first place," Michelle said, looking very solemn and serious while speaking.

"I would never go out with someone just because you told me to, Michelle. Besides, he lost that number. I had a choice when he asked again. I gave it to him. He's pretty gorgeous, after all," Sarah replied, breaking the solemnity with a smile.

"I'm serious, though, Sarah. I know that you have... I mean, the other man, you loved him a lot. Isn't this... hard?" Michelle said, still looking into Sarah's eyes.

Sarah bit her lip and looked away. She took in a shaky breath before replying in a quiet voice, "It's the hardest thing I've ever done. I love him still, Michelle. Going out with Darius, even if I do only see him as a friend, is just better. It helps me not to think about him. I always think about him, Michelle. He's like a ghost in my mind, haunting and a sad reminder of something that never really had a clean break." Sarah shifted her gaze to the floor. She couldn't tell Michelle just what their relationship had been or just what Jareth was. It would be too weird to explain that she loved a man she'd known for less than a year, only kissed three times, who was only an entirely different species, and who was the King of the Goblins in an entirely different realm. _"Nope. Not weird at all_," she thought sarcastically.

"I won't push you to tell me, but if you ever want to talk about it-"

"Which I won't-"

"You can talk to me," Michelle continued. Sarah smiled and hugged her friend.

"If that ever happens, then I will," she said with a smile._ "That's a big if." _Sarah released Michelle. "I think I need to get ready for gymnastics. It's my last day and all." Michelle nodded as Sarah moved to her dresser to grab her leotard.

"Yeah. I better get going. I'm at Stephen's tonight, so if you want to drop by on your way back...?"

"I will," Sarah smiled.

"See ya then!" the redhead chimed as she walked out of the room.

"Yeah, see you." Sarah looked at the closed door and then back to her dresser. She changed into her green and silver leotard and put a pair of black sweats on over it. It had been a long six weeks. She looked down at the top of her vanity where two wrapped presents sat._ "Thank God that Christmas is just around the corner."_ Her eyed widened. _"Damn! I forgot to get a present for Sarah!"_

Sarah quickly thought of something and looked through the drawers of her vanity until she came on one of her black and white, 8x10 gloss head shots. She pulled out a sharpie and signed her signature onto the bottom right corner. _"We can just go and buy a white frame on our way to the gym!"_

"Dad!" Sarah shouted as she ran out into the hall with the two presents from atop her vanity and the photo in hand. "Can we stop by the craft store to buy a frame on our way to gymnastics?"

"Sure, Sarah. We have to leave now, though," Robert replied from the living room. He walked out into the foyer. "You ready?"

"Yeah," she replied as she came down the stairs. Sarah slipped on her white flip flops that had been dutifully sitting by the front door. "Let's go." Robert followed her out to the car. She smiled as she strapped into the front seat. _"It would've sucked to have Irene drive today."_ She looked down at the photo. _"She wouldn't have taken me to the craft store."_

"Oh, wow. Thanks, Sarah. Can I pawn it off once you're famous?"

"That was the plan!" grinned Sarah. The strawberry blonde took a wrapped box out from behind her back. They stood by the clear glass doors of Victory Gymnastics' lobby.

"I got you a present, too," she said. "I don't think anyone will want to buy it at a pawn shop, though." Sarah tore open the other Sarah's gift and looked at the strawberry blonde with wide eyes.

"Aw!" she whimpered. "That's so nice. Thank you, Sarah!" She took the leotard out of the box. The red, shiny fabric had silver letters stitched on the sleeves. "SuperStar? Oh. I love it! Thanks!" She put the leotard back into the box and hugged her.

"You're welcome, Sarah. Merry early Christmas and good luck filming! You leave tonight, right?" They released.

"Yeah. I get to film over Christmas. Fun," Sarah replied sarcastically. She looked out the glass doors. "Oh, my dad's here. Thank you so much, Sarah." She turned back to the short strawberry blonde friend. "For everything. I don't know how I would've made it through this without you."

"Aw, I love you, Sarah!" They both smiled. "I'll see you when you get back?"

"Of course! Merry Christmas! Happy New Year!" Sarah smiled and ran out into the cold._ "Thank God I wore sweats over my leo today."_

"Hey, Dad!" Sarah said as she slipped into the car, shutting the door against the cold hurriedly. "We can still go by Stephen's, right?"

"Yes. But we have to hurry. Your mother-"

"Irene's not my mother," she interrupted in a sing song voice.

"-has dinner waiting," he continued as Sarah strapped on her seat belt. They pulled out of the parking lot and into the street.

"What are we having?" Sarah sighed, contenting herself to the idea that at least she'd have some time to say goodbye to her friends before leaving for God knows how long.

"Chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, rolls, salad, and asparagus with hollandaise," he replied. Sarah felt her mouth salivate just a little extra.

"So Irene went to the super market and bought it all pre-made?"

"Sarah," Robert said sharply.

"Don't be mad just because it's true," she replied with a smile. "Besides, it sounds delicious."

"Don't remind me. You weren't in the house when she brought it home and said no snacking before dinner."

"And thank God I wasn't," she murmured under her breath.

"What was that?"

"I said, 'No. At home, I wasn't.'" Sarah said, instantly covering it up.

"Oh, all right." Silence reigned in the car until Sarah decided the awkwardness was too much. She turned on the radio, and Cheap Trick's "I Want You to Want Me" blasted in the car. Robert turned the volume down from fifty to twenty, and Sarah pursed her lips. Her dad never did like to blast music like Linda or even Peter did. When they finally pulled up to the gates outside of Stephen's driveway, the final notes of Pat Benatar's "Love is a Battlefield" was playing. Robert buzzed the intercom, and Stephen's voice came over.

"Yo and hello."

"Stephen! It's Sarah!" Sarah yelled as she leaned over her dad. "Open the gates!"

"Sure. You don't have to shout, though. The mic picks up fine without your harpy shrieking." The gates opened, and Sarah's mouth gaped open in mock shock as her dad pulled up the driveway and to the house. As soon as they parked, she jumped out. Stephen opened the door, and Sarah pulled back her fist and punched him in the gut. She laughed as he bent over, and Sarah saw Michelle laughing behind him. Sarah turned back around and pulled the presents out of the car before coming into the house. She sidestepped Stephen, and Robert, whose face showed just how shocked he was at his daughter's actions, followed suit.

"Here's your present, Michelle," she smiled. Stephen was straightening back up. "And here's yours, Stephen," she said as she held out the present to him. He managed a smile. "Merry Christmas!"

"You hit harder than half the guys on the football team." Sarah laughed.

"That's because I have a lot of pent up anger," she said, smiling. Robert looked extremely uncomfortable.

"Here, let's go open them in the kitchen. Mrs. Johnston is making dinner," he said, pushing his shoulders back as he walked from the foyer to the adjoining hall.

"Where's your dad, Stephen?" Robert asked.

"In the study!" he called. Robert nodded to Sarah.

"Ten minutes."

"Okay, Dad!" she called as her dad went the opposite way down the hall. Michelle grinned.

"I'd thought he'd never leave."

"Shut up," Sarah replied as they entered the kitchen. "Hey, Mrs. Johnston. How are you?"

"Oh, fine," smiled the plump, fair skinned, and fair haired Mrs. Johnston. "Just cooking the salmon."

"How's Michael?"

"Oh, he's doing fantastic at UCLA. You still thinking about going, Sarah?"

"My acceptance just came in the mail today!" she chimed. Sarah turned from the older woman to see Michelle and Stephen already seated at the bar counter next to her. They were both staring at her with unhappy looks on their faces. "All right, open them. You have my attention." She sat on the counter about a foot and a half lower than the bar counter. It was attached on the kitchen side, so Sarah could see their faces as they ripped open the presents.

"Oh, Sarah! It's gorgeous!" the redhead exclaimed as she took out the bottle of perfume. "You know I wanted ' _Y _' by Yves St. Laurent!"

"Crap," Stephen muttered under his breath. "Thanks a lot, Sarah. Now I have to go buy another gift."

"Happy to oblige!" She stared at his untouched gift. "Your turn."

Stephen opened it up, and his eyes went big. "Sarah..." He stared down at it. "That's so nice of you."

"Yeah, well, you kept complaining that you never got anything nice from me, so..." Sarah smiled. "I thought that a leather Versace wallet would make you happy."

"Thanks, Sarah."

"You're welcome. Merry Christmas, you guys." Michelle sprayed on some of her perfume before she jumped out of her chair.

"I'll go get your presents from us!"

"Um, okay." Sarah drummed her fingers on the counter as Michelle ran down the hall. "So you finally got Michelle," Sarah said as she bobbed her head.

"Yeah," Stephen grinned.

"I swear to God if you hurt her, I will never speak to you again and slap you harder than you've ever been slapped." Stephen's face paled, and Sarah laughed. "God, Stephen. Calm down. Way to take a joke." Michelle came back, holding two presents wrapped in green paper with white ribbon.

"Here you go!" She threw the presents one at a time to Sarah. "Which is yours, Stephen?"

"The bigger one." Sarah opened the bigger one first. She pulled out a vermillion jacket. Sarah squealed and hopped off the counter. She slipped it on and found that it came to mid- calf. "I thought you'd like it. You know, 'cause you're always complaining how cold it is." Stephen grinned.

"Thanks, Stephen. I love it." Sarah took the jacket off and put it back into the box. She moved onto Michelle's gift and quickly opened it. "Oh, my God. Michelle. You shouldn't have."

"I know. Merry Christmas."

Sarah looked down in the box. "What'd you get her, Michelle?" Stephen tried to lean over, but Sarah slammed the top back into place.

"No, you really shouldn't have, Michelle." The redhead just grinned.

"It's for her to know, Stephen, and you to never find out."

"I'm never going to know, am I?"

"Glad to see I've trained you so well." Sarah laughed at that.

"I really should go, you guys. I'm gonna miss you. I promise to call, though." She held the boxes and hugged both of her friends goodbye. In Michelle's ear, she whispered, "I swear to God, you ever buy my lingerie again-"

Michelle laughed. "I love you, too, Sarah. Merry Christmas." Sarah walked back to the foyer at the same time as her dad.

"All ready to go?"

"Yep," Sarah replied. "I'm good. Merry Christmas!" Sarah exited Stephen's house. _"As good as I can be..."_

* * *

"Dinner smells great, Irene. I just love the smell of your cooking," Sarah said as she walked into the kitchen. She'd already showered quickly and changed into jeans and a brown long- sleeved shirt. Sarah resisted letting the sarcasm show in her voice, but she knew that her dad heard it. Robert, however, just kept his mouth shut as Sarah sat down next to Toby at the table. 

"Thank you, Sarah," Irene said through tight lips. "Now, let's start dinner. It's nice to have the family together for once."

Sarah resisted saying, "But this isn't 'the family,' and you're not my mother." Instead, she smiled and piled salad and asparagus onto her plate.

"So, Sarah, what acceptance letters have come in for college?"

"What? Oh... ummm..." Sarah chewed the food in her mouth and washed it down with water. "Stanford gave me a yes, as did UCLA. Yale put me on the waiting list. I'm 42. Harvard put me on the waiting list, too. I'm 38. Brown and Columbia both said yes."

"That's wonderful, Sarah," Robert said.

"Sarah!" Sarah turned to look at her little brother. She hadn't really seen much of Toby these past few weeks.

"Hey, Toby," she said with a smile. "How's it going?" Toby just smiled and clapped his hands together.

"'m good." She smiled at his speech.

"So where do you want to go, Sarah?" Robert asked. Irene ate her salad in small bites and listened to the conversation, her eyes flicking between Sarah and Robert.

"I was thinking UCLA, actually," Sarah said thoughtfully. "I don't know, though. Maybe I'll have time to look around the campus when I'm over there."

"That sounds like a good idea. Are you all packed?"

"Yup. Did it last night," Sarah replied.

"Good." Silence fell over the dinner table, and they finished their meal listening to Toby's nonsensical prattle.

"Sarah, can you come with me for a moment?" Robert got up with his plate in hand. Irene touched her hand to his arm.

"I'll do it, Robert," she said as Sarah got up. Robert set the plate back down, and Sarah followed him into the kitchen.

"What's this all about?" Sarah asked, folding her arms under her breasts.

"Hold on," Robert said as he fished around in his pockets. He pulled out a small wrapped box. "I know you won't be here for Christmas, so I wanted to give you your gift before then."

"Thanks, Dad," she replied, taking the gift. She hugged him. "I don't know what to say."

"You could open it?"

"Oh, right," Sarah grinned sheepishly as she began to open it. She removed the box and paper to reveal a small, black jewelry box. Inside was a one carat, rose cut diamond pendant necklace. The diamond was in a circular set so that it floated on the gold chain. She held up her hair as Robert did the clasp at the back of her neck. The pendant came to rest just under the hollow of her throat. "Oh, Dad, it's gorgeous. Thank you so much!" Sarah hugged her dad, resisting a cliché sniffle.

"You're welcome, Sarah," he said, hugging her back. Sarah looked at the clock.

"I should go get my stuff, now?" she released Robert.

"Yeah," he replied. Sarah took off up the stairs, wearing the pendant.

_"I'm gonna miss home so much,"_ Sarah thought to herself._ "Well, I'm gonna miss my dad, anyway."_

* * *

Sarah arrived at her hotel room tired and worn out. The red eye had been long and uneventful. Now, all she wanted was some sleep. "Too bad I have run to the studio and get ready for filming," she thought angrily as she blow dried her hair. A nice, hot shower had been the first thing she stepped into once the door of her luxurious hotel room was shut. Once Sarah had finished freshening up and changed into a skirt and a blouse, she ran down the stairs and to the lobby. "Excuse me, sir, do I have any messages from Paramount Studios?" 

"Miss..." the clerk looked down behind his desk, "Williams?"

"That's me," Sarah replied with a smile.

"Yes. They wanted me to give you this," he said, handing her an envelope with the Paramount logo on it. Sarah took the proffered envelope and turned around. She quickly opened it up as she walked slowly away from the front desk. She pulled out a letter and read it once over.

"Damn," she cursed under her breath. It read that she wasn't needed at the studio today and suggested that she get some rest, which meant that she'd gotten herself all gussied up for nothing. The studio, however, would be sending a car to retrieve her in the evening. Sarah sighed and went back to her room. _"Nothing I can do. I mean, it's not like I can just go down there and demand to be seen. I'm not _that_ much of a diva."_

After setting the alarm for five in the evening, Sarah crawled into the bed with her clothes still on. _"God. This pillow is soft. I still wish I'd brought Jareth's."_ Sarah didn't cry, though. Instead, she slipped off to dreamland.

Once she awoke, though, at the sound of the alarm, she was feeling much better. She quickly straightened out her clothes, brushed her hair, and was all ready to leave. She grabbed her purse and ran down the stairs, where, as the letter had said, a car was waiting to pick her up.

"Sarah Williams?"

"Yup!" Sarah replied. He held the door open for Sarah, who quickly scooted into the back seat. Her door shut, and the driver went around to the front. She sighed. _"I hope this doesn't take too long..."_

"Hello, Sarah. I'm Ted. Ted Krueger," said a man with a caramel tan and sandy blonde hair. "I'm the Paramount Executive in charge of the film, and this is our Head of Demographics, Bill Goldstein." A man with brown hair, brown eyes, and an olive complexion stepped forward. Sarah shook the hand he offered.

"It's nice to meet you," Sarah said, unsure of what to do exactly. She instantly liked Bill more, though. He had an approachability that Ted just didn't have. In fact, Ted's sharp, tailored Armani suit practically screamed, "If you're wondering how much I am, then you're too close."

"Here," Ted said, gesturing into the softly lit restaurant. A waiter appeared from behind a screen as if on cue and showed them to their table. He held Sarah's seat for her and quickly handed out menus before disappearing. "Are you familiar with demographics, Sarah?" Ted asked, looking over his menu at Sarah with a smile.

_"I really don't like him,"_ she thought. _"Patronizing jerk." _She smiled. "Yes. They're the polls that come in telling the questioner what the people want." Ted's grin dropped.

"Yes, that's right," Bill said, jumping in. He grinned good- naturedly. Sarah decided she liked him a lot. "On the business side, we just got this quarter's demographics back."

"And we want to offer-" Ted stopped speaking as the waiter came up.

"Good evening, everyone. My name is Mark, and I'll be your server tonight. Can I get you drinks to start off with?" asked the waiter, clasping his hands in front of him as he spoke.

"I'll have a scotch on the rocks," Ted replied, looking over his menu.

"And I'll have a glass of the house chardonnay," Bill said, also looking at his menu.

"Just water, please," Sarah ordered, handing her menu to Mark. She'd already decided what she was getting. Sarah suddenly didn't have much of an appetite. Mark took the menu and left.

"Like I was saying, we want to offer you fifty thousand dollars to walk away," Ted said. Sarah was thankful she didn't have her drink yet because otherwise she probably would have been spraying it across the table.

"Walk away?" she said, ready for someone to come out and tell her it was a joke.

"Yes. Our demographics came back and showed that hardly any of the public is interested in a female sport movie. All of our main target audiences are interested in comedies like Eddie Murphy's stuff and action cinemas like Mel Gibson's movie," Bill said, trying to explain it to Sarah who seemed to be in shock.

"I-" Sarah stopped to think about it. "I need to go to the ladies' room. If the waiter comes back, could you order a caesar salad for me?" Ted looked like he want to protest, but Bill jumped in.

"Sure, Sarah."

The brunette quickly located the bathroom and made her way to it. _"What to do? They want to let me go..."_ Sarah leaned against the cool tile wall. _"Should I just take the money and..."_ she closed her eyes, _"run?"_ Sarah brought a hand up to her face and rubbed her eyes._ "Okay. Pros and cons. Cons- I won't be in the movie. I won't collect the paycheck for it... Is that it? Okay, then. Pros- The movie won't bomb due to lack of viewers. I get fifty thousand dollars. Peter will get his ten percent..."_ Her eyes snapped open._ "I can pay for college!"_

Sarah made her way back to the table. "I'll take it," she said as she sat down. Her water was already set down at her place.

"Great," Ted said. "We'll have the check sent to your hotel tomorrow." Mark the waiter just came back.

"Can I start you all off with anything?"

"No, we're just going to order the meal now," Bill replied. "I'll have the salmon with the asparagus." Mark took his menu.

"And I'll have the duck with mango salsa," ordered Ted, handing his menu to Mark. Sarah just looked expectantly at the waiter while the men ordered.

"And you?"

"I'll have the caesar chicken salad," Sarah said. Mark nodded.

"All right. Enjoy your drinks." Mark quickly made his exit.

"We can have you home on the next plane, or if you'd prefer tomorrow...?" Ted said before he threw back his scotch. Sarah immediately thought of the plane ride home, Christmas, and her mom.

"Actually, can I fly out on January third? My mom lives here, so I kind of want to spend Christmas with her," Sarah said, looking expectantly at the two men with baited breath.

"Sure. Not a problem," Ted replied. Sarah breathed a sigh of relief. "We can have a car take you over. Do you want to leave tonight or tomorrow morning?" Sarah bit her lip. She wanted to see her mom tonight, but she was really much too tired.

"Tomorrow morning, if you please," she replied.

"Splendid!" exclaimed Ted. "Is there anything else you'd like Ms. Williams? We'll have the check with the driver in the morning."

_"Why is he being so nice now?"_ Sarah thought suspiciously. Her face, however, was a blank mask of pleasantry. "Chocolate! But uh-" she smiled. Neither Bill nor Ted seemed to get it. "Never mind. No, I'm fine. Thank you." She looked at him and realized, _"Oh! I probably just saved his job. He probably was instructed to make sure that I accept the deal, or he goes. It would be bad publicity if they broke a contract and got sued for it."_

"On a lighter note, how is everything Ms. Williams? Do you enjoy L.A.?" asked Bill.

"Yes. It's really..." she paused as she searched for the word. Sarah smiled, thinking of everything she could name that was wrong with the city, "Extravagant- of what I've seen via plane, anyway."

When Sarah got back to her hotel room, it was roughly ten at night. She kicked off her heels and flung herself on the bed happily. _"Thank God that's over!"_

She dragged herself off the bed and changed into her pajamas, making sure all of her clothes were neatly packed away to ensure easy departure in the morning. When she was finished with that, she crawled under the covers._ "I really can't wait to see Mom..."_

* * *

Sarah sat in the car that Paramount had sent over. It was a silver Bentley, and Sarah was pretty sure that Stephen's wasn't as nice as this one._ "Well, one of Stephen's. He has so many it's hard to keep track." _They were just crossing over into Beverly Hills, and Sarah, strangely, had butterflies in her stomach. She'd called her mom earlier in the morning to make sure it was okay. It was, but she still felt nervous. She couldn't explain why; she just did. _"I feel like something bad is going to happen."_ She looked down at her lap, feeling strangely solitary and inside herself while elsewhere at the same time. _"Is this what an out of body experience feels like?"_

"We're here, Miss Williams," the driver said. Sarah looked up. She hadn't even realized how much time had passed. She peered outside the window to see her mother's manor towering. It seemed a lot friendlier than the last time, though. The driver buzzed the intercom, and without a word being spoken, the gate opened. The driver pulled on through to the front door, where Linda promptly appeared.

"Thank you," Sarah said with a nod to the driver. She quickly got out of the car and stepped into her mother's embrace. "I missed you, Mom."

"I missed you, too, Sarah," she said as she released her daughter. She called back into the house. "John?" The man stepped out and gave Sarah a nod that she promptly returned with a smile. "Sarah's bags?"

"Of course," he nodded, walking over to get Sarah's bags out of the trunk.

"All right, let's get you inside. Are you hungry? Tired? What happened with Paramount? You said you'd explain when you got here," Linda said as she led Sarah into the house.

"Okay. Let me try and answer those in order. Yes. No. They wanted to cut production of the movie and give me fifty thousand to walk, so I took it," Sarah answered. Linda looked at her sharply before answering.

"What? Why'd they cut it?" Linda asked, shocked as they entered the kitchen.

"Quarterly demographics came back. Apparently, sports movies aren't what the paying audiences want to see, much less sports movies starring girls in leotards," Sarah answered, hoisting herself up on the counter, where she swung her legs back and forth.

"What do you want to eat?"

"I don't know. A turkey sandwich?"

"At ten in the morning?" Linda looked at her skeptically.

"Yup," Sarah replied with a smile.

"You are a strange child," Linda murmured as she opened the refrigerator and began to set to work making that turkey sandwich.

"Your genetics!" Sarah chimed. Linda raised an eyebrow and gave Sarah's one of those mother's glares that scare all children, big and small. "Dad's genetics," she corrected, staring defiantly right into her mother's eyes.

_"Well, I know what Jareth sees in her,"_ Linda thought. "Oh, hey! Have you gotten around to college stuff yet? Do you know which college you're thinking of looking at?"

"Not yet, I was thinking that I want to look around UCLA's campus, actually. You know, since a lot of the students will be home for Christmas?"

"That's a great idea, Sarah! Did you already get your acceptance letter?"

"Yeah, actually," Sarah smiled.

"So it's pretty much a yes for UCLA?"

"Yes."

Linda grinned. "That means you can spend more time with me! Don't fret about a thing; I will help you decorate your dorm room," Linda exclaimed as she cut the sandwich in half.

"Thanks, Mom. I was actually wondering about the theme of it..."

"Don't. Your theme should definitely be blacks and whites. You're only going to want to be in the dorms for the first two years. After that, I'm sure you'll have a friend who would want to be roommates with you in an actual apartment. Then, we can do the real decorating," Linda replied

"Did you ever want to be something like, oh, an interior designer?" Sarah replied as Linda handed Sarah her sandwich on an ebony plate. "Thanks for the sandwich."

"You're welcome," Linda smiled. "And yes. I did actually, but only if acting fell through. It didn't." She gave one of those gallic shrugs that Sarah knew so well.

"What will I do if acting falls through?" Sarah thought aloud before biting into her sandwich.

"That's for you to decide- soon, hopefully," Linda replied, moving around the bar counter to sit next to her daughter. "Is there anything you love doing other than acting?" Linda asked as she sat with her chin propped up on her hand.

Sarah opened her mouth to say no but thought better. There were a few things. _"Gymnastics, writing, singing, English class…"_ Sarah thought. She looked at Linda and cocked her head to the side. "I like English class, and I like writing…"

"Maybe an English Major, then?" Linda replied. Sarah's nose wrinkled.

"How about no," Sarah answered.

"Just a thought," Linda said with a radiant smile. Sarah smiled.

"I'll consider it," the sixteen year old replied, "but what can I do with a B.A. in English? What would I do with my life? I want to make a difference in the world."

Linda kept silent for a moment as she thought of Jareth. Sarah could make a difference in the world of the Underground if she were the Goblin Queen. _"Maybe even Aboveground! But to tell Sarah? Hmm.."_

"What are you thinking about, Mom?"

"Nothing," she said, shaking her head. Sarah wouldn't buy that, and she knew it. "Well, something. You could teach?"

"Teach? That's funny. Me? With kids? Teaching kids?"

"Why's it so funny? From what Robert had told me, I gathered that you were great with kids, especially with Toby. He says that the parents you baby sit for love you, too," Linda replied. Sarah looked at her mother curiously. When did her parents start talking?

"I guess so, but I mean-" she trailed off. "I don't know. I never thought about teaching."

"Would you think about it?" Linda asked. Sarah sighed a big, dramatic sigh.

"Why not?" Sarah said before biting off a rather gigantic sized piece of her sandwich. Linda grinned.

"When you're done, go off and unpack. I've got some calls to make, and when we're both done, we can go get the groceries for Christmas," Linda said as she got out of her seat.

"Aukl Righsht," Sarah said with her mouthful of sandwich. Linda got an extremely grossed out look on her face.

"Try swallowing before speaking. Food is only meant to be seen before it gets chewed." Then Linda left to go make calls.

Sarah finished her sandwich in peace, taking care to have smaller bites due to the choking she had on the previous. When she was done, she walked through the halls to the room she had last time. Her suitcases were set neatly on the floor, untouched except for the opened clasps and zippers to ensure easier unpacking. She looked down at her bags and set to work. Once almost everything was away, the only thing left was the crystal. Sarah took it out and sat down on the bed with her legs crossed beneath her. She held the crystal in her lap and looked down at it. Instead of wishing for Jareth's image as she wanted to, she wished for everything to turn out for the better, for everything to be okay.

"_I do love you, Jareth. Please, be okay,"_ she thought as she kept back the tears that wanted to fall. She was getting better at it. _"One day at a time…"_

* * *

"Here are the cookies!" Linda chimed as she came out with a large ivory plate of fresh chocolate chip cookies. She set them down on the coffee table of the living room. The evergreen tree stood in the corner with at least fifty presents beneath it. Sarah stared at them with wide eyes from her pink recliner. 

"Did we really need so many presents?" she asked, still staring at the assortment of wrapped gifts.

"Did we really need six dozen cookies?" Linda answered. Sarah turned her gaze to the mountain of cookies.

"Yes."

"Then that's why we needed so many presents," Linda replied.

"That doesn't make any sense," Sarah said, shaking her head.

"Nope." Linda sat down on the white recliner. She took in a shaky breath and gave a Sarah a thoughtful look.

"What?"

"It's just-" She bit her lip and looked away. She bit into a cookie and gave Sarah one, too. She steeled herself up to speak. "I think you should give Jareth a chance, Sarah. If you really do absolutely love him, you should trust him more, trust his power over his people more, and trust your relationship more." She looked at her daughter. "Why won't you give him at least a chance or trial period to prove himself?" She took another bite of her cookie.

"Because! Because-" Sarah stopped and took a bite of her cookie. "I don't know…. Can we just…" She thought about something, anything other than the subject at hand. "What time is it anyway?" Sarah asked. Her mother sighed. Sarah wasn't being very receptive tonight. It would take time. Maybe Sarah would be more open to the idea in a few months. Linda checked her watch and plastered a grin on her face as she finished her cookie.

"Two minutes and forty six seconds until midnight," she replied. Sarah grinned. She had to stay positive, or she'd cry again. She was tired of crying so much. It was getting old.

"Let's pick out the presents we're gonna open now," she said as she scrambled out of her chair. Sarah grabbed one wrapped in white with a silky sky blue ribbon. She looked at her mother, who still remained in her chair, as she flopped back down in hers. "Go pick out yours!"

"I don't feel like moving. You pick out mine," she said with a mischievous glint to her dark eyes.

"No way! If it's something you don't like you'll say something like, 'It would have been different if I picked it out. Now I have to open another.' I am not falling for that one this year. The Tradition states one present at midnight and one present ONLY," Sarah replied. Linda rolled her eyes.

"Such a Drama Queen, Sarah," she said as she got out of her chair and picked a small one with green wrapping and a silky white ribbon. "All right," she said as she sat back down in her chair.

"How much more time left?" Sarah asked. Linda looked at her watch.

"Eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two," she counted down, "one!"

"MERRY CHRISTMAS!" they both shouted. Sarah's wrapping virtually vanished as Linda slowly but neatly unwrapped hers.

"Oh, thanks, Mom! It's- It's!"

"I know," Linda replied as Sarah hugged her. She hugged her daughter back. "I figured you would want a set eventually," she added. Sarah pulled back and held the display box of emerald jeweled, silver combs.

"They're so pretty! Thank you!" she cooed. She quickly set the box down, though. "Now open yours," she commanded. Linda gave her a mother's glare but did so anyway. Her face quickly turned into a portrait of astonishment. Sarah smugly shoved another whole cookie into her mouth.

"Oh, Sarah," she murmured, "how did you-?"

"Fifty thousand dollars," she chimed, mouth full of cookie. "Try it on!" Linda took out the silver necklace with its ruby tear drop pendant and chained it around her neck. Sarah swallowed her cookie and squealed. "Oh! I knew it would look good on you!"

Linda smiled at her daughter. "Thank you, Sarah. You're the best daughter a mother could wish for." She took a cookie, eating it in bites instead of swallowing it down like Sarah.

"I know," she grinned.

"_You'd also make a great queen. Too bad finishing schools went out of style,"_ Linda thought as she hugged daughter. "Now go to bed."

"I'm pretty sure I'm old enou-"

"No. Bed," Linda interrupted with a firm voice. Sarah rolled her eyes.

"Fine. Fine." She got up, grumbling as she did so.

"Oh, wait! I called Robert. We discussed your schooling situation, but the details can wait until morning."

"Oh. That's great!" Sarah said. "I had been kind of wondering about that…" Sarah suddenly grabbed the plate of cookies, turned around, and ran off to her room with the rest of her cookies while thinking, _"I was kind of hoping that they'd all just forget about that, and I could spend my days sleeping, waiting for Jareth to come again so I could tell him how he was trying to take away my life." _Linda just smiled as Sarah ran off.Sarah thought of her mother's earlier statement about giving it a chance and sighed. _"Could we work something out? I don't think so, but God! If there's a way help me to find it and play it out as best I can."_

* * *

It took a looooooooooooooooooooooooooong time... looooooooooooooooooooooooong time. I'm in a good mood right now. Seriously I don't know why... Love it. Hate it. I don't care. In case you all were wondering, this beast was 11,300 something words and 28 pages long on Times New Roman size 12 font. 


	14. Chapter 14

**For Keeps  
**  
Sarah's been out of the Labyrinth for 6 month, and her seemingly instant maturity hasn't gone unnoticed. When Jareth shows up, seeking to understand how she beat him, things progress down a path neither could have anticipated. JS  
**  
Disclaimer- All Standard Disclaimers Apply  
**  
Chapter Fourteen:

* * *

"Oh, my God! Quick! Get the pan!" 

"Stop shouting at me!"

"Just do it!" Sarah shouted frantically at her even more frantic mother. The chocolate in the pan had melted, but the fire beneath had grown a little too hot. It was bubbling now in the double boiler, and steam was escaping around the top of the pot rather forcefully. Hot, popping chocolate bubbles hitting your skin are just a little bit on the painful side. Linda grabbed the handle and lifted the top pot off of the double boiler. In a few seconds, it instantly grew cooler, and the bubbling stopped. "Thank God," sighed Sarah. Linda brought the pot over to the counter that Sarah was standing by and held it above the cookie sheet that was filled with shaved ice. Sarah drew a curly cue deep in the ice, and Linda poured the liquefied chocolate into the curly cue, allowing it to fill all the way to the top.

"Okay, your turn," Linda said, handing the chocolate filled pot to Sarah. Linda drew a heart and hollowed it out. Sarah poured the chocolate in so that it was filled solid with the chocolate.

"God, I missed this. We didn't keep this tradition at home. Dad's gonna be so jealous when I bring some back," Sarah said gleefully as they switched again. Sarah drew a seashell and hollowed it out.

"Why didn't you keep it?"

"I don't know. Maybe Irene just didn't like the idea of it. Who knows? She only thinks about herself," Sarah replied.

"Sarah, that's harsh, and you know it's not true," Linda reprimanded.

"Well, maybe," she sighed as they switched turns again. "Still, all she does is- is-" she paused as she tried to think of what exactly Irene did, "She seems to think that my teenage years should be the same as hers were. It's like she doesn't understand that our situations are totally different!"

"Well, how could she? She doesn't know about the Labyrinth or about Jareth," Linda replied.

"I know. I just meant that even before that she was trying to force her life onto me. The night that I ran the Labyrinth she told me that I should have dates at my age! I was fifteen! Guys at fifteen can't even drive!" Sarah exclaimed as they switched turns. Linda sighed.

"Sarah. It's not like it matters. You're going to be seventeen in a few months, and then you'll be in college. Besides, you can't blame a person for how they are," Linda replied.

_"That's exactly what I was thinking before I came here…"_ Sarah thought. "I know," she sighed, "it's just really annoying."

"So suck it up. Be a tough broad," Linda grinned as they switched again.

* * *

Sarah sat down next to Michelle, who was sitting across from Stephen, who was sitting next to Darius in a booth at the local coffee shop. They were all dressed fancier than the average casual dress a coffee shop would normally call for. However, it was only because they had all just come back from a Valentine's Day double date. Sarah tucked the pink fabric of her dress under her thigh. It was the pink Prada dress she had worn over Thanksgiving with her mom. Michelle had on a similar dress, but it was a non-designer royal blue. Sarah clutched her insulated paper cup, filled with vanilla hazelnut coffee, and crossed her ankles under the table. 

"Sooo… is there anything else you guys wanna do?" she asked, looking from Michelle to Stephen in his matching, royal blue collared shirt.

"Nope. I just wanna have coffee with you guys, then go home, and sleep," Darius, dressed in a white collared shirt with a pale pink, silk tie, replied with a yawn. Sarah looked across the table at him.

"Well, you're no fun. You home-body," Sarah pouted. Michelle and Darius both laughed.

"Home-body? That's rich, Sarah," Michelle said. "What's a partier called? Oh, right. A partier."

"Ha ha, Michelle," Sarah replied sarcastically. She rolled her eyes while Michelle continued laughing. The joke, if it could be called as such, wasn't even that funny. _"She can be so odd…"_

"Is there anything you wanted to do, Sarah?" asked Stephen.

"Hell, yes! Let's go ice skating!"

"Ice skating?" Darius said as he quirked an eyebrow.

"Yes, ice skating," Sarah repeated. "I want to go ice skating."

"She's suffering from a mild case of retardation. Forgive her," laughed Michelle.

"Michelle, have you smoked any weed? You've been kind of giggly…" Stephen trailed off with a smile in his eyes. Michelle's laughter stopped.

"Did I say you could speak? No," she said, answering too quickly for him. Sarah laughed at that.

"Wow, you guys.… but seriously, I want to go ice skating," the brunette said.

"Sarah, it's too late. The ice skating ring closes in about four minutes anyway, so it's pretty much not worth it," Michelle replied.

"Oh," Sarah commented, looking down. "I thought it was open until one today…"

"No, it's definitely not," Stephen said. "So now that you got that case of the crazies out of your system," he said as he got up from the table, "we're gonna go." Michelle nodded and stood up, too.

"Yeah. Happy Valentine's Day, Sarah!" added Michelle as she followed Stephen outside. Darius looked at Sarah.

"Is there anything else you want to do? Or do you want to just go home?" asked Darius.

Sarah opened her mouth but thought better and shut it. She really didn't want to go out. She'd been relatively happy the past three weeks, but when she woke up today, she realized it was Valentine's Day and couldn't help the morning tears. She shook her head and grabbed her purse. "No, I just wanna go home." Darius stood up.

"All righty then," he replied, standing up as well. "Let's go." Sarah nodded and strode past Darius as he held the door open, a small smile gracing her face as she did so. Their car ride home was in complete silence, and when Sarah got out the door, she walked straight into the house without looking back.

* * *

"What is up with you guys?" 

"What doth thou mean, my lady?" asked Didymus. "Should we be standing upon the ceiling?"

"Yeah. What you mean, Sarah?" questioned Hoggle.

"I mean**, why the hell aren't you guys talking to me**?" demanded Sarah, feeling quite angry at her friends. "You guys haven't spoken to me all week!"

"Our tasks have been keeping us away from thee. Verily, we have seldom had such busy schedules," Didymus answered, careful not to reveal too much to Sarah. Jareth had given them strict orders not to tell her anything about the kingdom without verifying the information with him first. Sarah sighed in annoyance. She'd guessed what they were about and as upset about it, too. She knew she wouldn't get anything out of them, too.

"You know what? Never mind. I've got stuff to do." Sarah checked her watch. "I've gotta meet a guy. So I'll talk to you guys later." Before either could do anything, she was out of the room.

"Do ye think Jareth knows about this?"

"I fear he does," Didymus said, nodding slowly with sympathy in his eyes. "I fear he does."

Downstairs, Sarah was running out of the house, grabbing a jacket as she did so and breathed in the clean, fresh air. She had no idea what had come over. One minute, she'd been talking to them. The next, she had been freaking out over nothing. It was like the room had become severely hot, or maybe that was just her temper. Either way, it had not gone well. Sarah looked up at the blue sky and had the sudden urge to go to the park. She hadn't been there for what seemed like ages. She ran back in the house. "Irene! I'm going to the park!" she called.

"Did you finish your homework?"

Sarah rolled her eyes. "Yes!"

"Okay! Be back before-"

Sarah shut the door and was running down the block by the time Irene was on the porch to yell at Sarah for deliberately disobeying her. Sarah laughed as her feet pounded the sidewalk. She'd probably get in trouble when she got back, but for that moment, she didn't care. A sudden happiness filled her when she thought of the place she had spent so much time. Sarah stopped in front of the park. She'd spent a little too much time here. "I didn't have any life whatsoever," she thought as she surveyed the expanse of stiff, nearly frozen green grass.

Sarah walked through the park, looking up at the huge, old trees that probably predated her great, great grandparents. "But not Jareth," she thought. Sarah let out a scream of frustration as she passed over the bridge. An elderly couple shot her dark looks, but she ignored them, thinking, "I don't know what to think. Mom said- but I know that it won't work. I want to try..." She sat angrily on the bench Merlin had once occupied on a spring day. "He's so much older... So much more experienced. I mean, what would I even do in situations like..." Sarah blushed. His pants really left so little and so much to the imagination. "You probably wear them on purpose, too."

She sighed and propped up her elbow on her knee and rested her head on her hand as she leaned forward. "You make life so difficult, you know?" She stared off into space. "I don't exactly help either..."

* * *

"I'm going to have to do something about this Darius character," Jareth mulled as he stared into a crystal. His body was draped lazily over the throne, one leg resting on the floor while the other hung over an arm. Darius' image was floating around inside the crystal. "Sarah is mine and will stay that way. I worked too hard to get her." Jareth paused in his thoughts and lowered his eyes. He hadn't really worked for her at all. It had been more of a mutual thing. "She does bloody well love me..." Jareth looked back at the crystal, feeling annoyed. "I am her slave," he thought- the annoyance he felt was plain even in his thoughts, "but she refuses to let me rule her..."Jareth got up and paced around the empty throne room. It had been empty quite frequently for the past nine months. The goblins had actually seemed to have fully reclaimed their long lost common sense and left Jareth alone. His mood had been more mercurial than usual. Perhaps it had something to do with the information he was gathering together for Oberon. He'd ordered all of the different parts of the Labyrinth and Goblin Kingdom to file reports of their sections for it. Only half had come in, and he only had another two and a half months to get it all together. He stopped pacing and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Why am I surrounded by idiots?" he groaned aloud. 

"Yer Majesty?" Hoggle's head poked inside the room from just behind the door.

"What are you doing in MY throne room uninvited?" Jareth said, looking vehemently at Hoggle, who had somehow obviously gotten into his throne room.

"I have my reasons," he replied. Jareth's face twisted into such a promise of violence that Hoggle involuntarily shuddered and was suddenly breathing very shallowly.

"Higgle, you'll do what I say, and you will not ever come into my presence without my consent," Jareth said slowly, deliberately. He wanted Hoggle to understand just how serious he was about this. "Otherwise, not even Sarah's wishes will save you."

"Yes, Y-Yer Majesty," Hoggle said, looking down. He could be blatantly brave at times and hopelessly cowardly the next. This was one of those cowardly times that seemed to be most abundant.

"Anyway- now that you're here, I might as well tell you..." Jareth trailed off, looking out the window. He didn't even so much as flicker his eyes toward Hoggle, but he wanted to goad him into asking all the same. A few moments of silence passed, and the dwarf's patience ran as thin as the Goblin King knew it would.

"What is it?" Hoggle demanded, stomping his little foot down. Jareth's eyes flicked dangerously towards Hoggle and rested on his figure.

"You're going to help oversee the Labyrinth while I'm away in Avalon. Didymus will be in charge, though. You'll have the Bog and the outer rock walls, which brings me to my next point. Where are the reports for your section?" Jareth spoke in an even, calm voice with his body in a completely relaxed position. Only the fire and wrath in his eyes and the cruel line of his mouth played contrary to this cool, collected figure.

"Well, ye see, Sire, I-" Hoggle stumbled over his words, and Jareth smiled a particularly cruel, devilish smile showing off slightly pointed teeth.

"I think it's because you're incompetent, Hoggle," he cut in, his voice not needing to be raised to lift itself over Hoggle's bumbling. "Do you know what I do with incompetent subjects?"

"Please! Don't throw me in the Bog!" Hoggle threw himself at Jareth's feet as he sniveled. "As if livin' in it weren't bad 'nough!"

"Get a hold of yourself, you idiot," Jareth sighed, tiring of the game. He really didn't have the strength for it just then. Perhaps another time... "Have it in by the end of the week."

"Or?" Hoggle asked, scared of the Goblin King's reaction to his innocent question.

Jareth simply gave Hoggle a look with raised eyebrows that told him that he would have it in. The Goblin King then gazed out the window nonchalantly.

"Goodbye, Yer Majesty." Jareth said nothing as the dwarf exited his throne room. He still had much to plan concerning his entrance into Avalon. He still had no idea if he wanted to do a secret sort of entrance where everyone knew exactly the hour and the minute when he arrived and talked about it for hours or if he wanted a huge entrance with gaudy streamers, a huge opening and show of strength the likes of which Avalon hadn't seen in little over a millennium. Jareth thought over the two ideas and felt himself getting annoyed again.

"I'm never this disgustingly indecisive," he thought of the second option. "I'll do exactly what I want. She's got me so twisted up that I don't even know which world is which. Sarah obviously doesn't understand who she's dealing with. There aren't any rules this time." He smiled a real, happy smile. "So there won't be anything to stop me. I'll make the road if you won't, Sarah, and you'll have to take it because they'll be nothing left to hide behind--no childhood, no Toby, no higher ideals." Jareth settled back comfortably into his throne. He'd have to make sure the goblins would stay this neat and orderly when he had Sarah. She had to see he was strong enough because he was. She had to see he was right for her because there could never be another. "We belong to each other, and it's both our bloody faults."

* * *

Sarah walked back from the park and stepped into her house. The sun was just setting in the sky, and she had just finished a nice, long think about her whole situation. Everything seemed a lot clearer in that place. Maybe it was because Jareth and she had interacted there before ever even knowing each other. Sarah ran up the stairs and into her room, where she promptly flung herself onto her bed and smiled. She had a double date with Darius, Stephen, and Michelle that night. They were going ice skating.  
"Hey, Irene?" Sarah called from her prone position. 

"What, Sarah?" Irene called back from the downstairs. Her voice was particularly sharp, and Sarah took in a calming breath to fight the urge to cuss her stepmother out.

"Do you know where my old cream colored shirt is?"

"The one you used to wear ALL the time?"

Sarah took in another breath. Irene didn't like to make her life easy. "Yes. Do you know where it is?"

"It's hanging up in the hall closet. I thought you'd put it there. It's been there for nearly a year," Irene yelled.

"Thank you!" Sarah yelled, getting up. She ran to the closet, grabbed the shirt, and ran back up the stairs. She quickly changed into the same outfit she'd worn that day in the Labyrinth and surveyed herself in the mirror. She'd missed parts of her old self. She'd tried to cut them out, but there wasn't anything wrong with them. Shouldn't she be allowed to be herself and be mature? Sarah looked out her window and saw Stephen pull up into the driveway. Michelle was in the passenger seat, and Darius was in the back. "Bye, Irene!" Sarah grabbed a cream colored clutch and ran out of the house, her hair streaming behind her like the flying shadow of a bird of prey.

* * *

"That was so much fun, you guys!" 

"I told you, Michelle. Ice skating is the best."

"I disagree."

"That's because you fell on your ass four times in a row, Stephen," laughed Sarah. Darius and Michelle joined in, and Stephen blushed red.

"You're all terrible human beings. I hope you die of malaria," he said darkly as he pulled into Sarah's driveway. "Get out, Sarah. You're the ringleader."

"You know I love you, Stephen. I couldn't ask for a richer brother figure," she smiled, giving him a hug from the backseat.

"Yeah, yeah." Stephen smiled despite his best attempt at a straight face.

"Bye, Sarah," Michelle said, hugging her brunette friend from the passenger seat.

"Bye." They released, and Sarah turned to Darius. It had been about two months, and she still hadn't kissed him. In fact, she refused to kiss him. It wasn't that he'd pushed or anything. He had been quite the gentleman. "I just love Jareth too much..." Sarah gave Darius a hug and quickly scrambled out of the car. She took in a cleansing breath of the cool, night air. Nights like this, when the clouds were overcast and when a thunderous rainstorm was a looming threat closing in faster than the fading horizon, she could only think of Jareth. She could only think of Jareth every night, but he was especially prominent in her thoughts on nights like this. Sarah ran into the house, feeling happier than she had in a long time. She loved ice skating, and it had been a fun night, a very fun night. She was wearing her old clothes with a new attitude and felt more at peace with herself than she had for awhile. She walked into her room and was surprised that neither her father nor Irene had called to her. In fact, neither seemed to be present, but their door was locked. In fact, that had been happening a lot more often since Toby got his own room.

"Oh, God. I do NOT need that image," she thought, wrinkling her nose with a horrified expression on her face. She flopped herself down onto her bed, bouncing just a bit as she did so. She inhaled with a smile on her face but then instantly froze. The smiled slipped off Sarah's face, and her nostrils flared as the irises of her eyes turned into smoldering emerald.

"Irene..." Sarah called in a loud, strangely calm voice. "What did you do?" Her voice was still loud but calm. There was no reply. "What did you DO?!" She was losing some of the cool control. Irene's voice came from the master bedroom.

"What are you talking about, Sarah? I just did your laundry." Irene hastily wrapped a bathrobe around herself.

Sarah's face was a contortion of controlled rage. "You. Did. WHAT?!?" she screamed, slowly standing up on her bed. "YOU DID WHAT?!?"

"HOW DARE YOU!" Sarah screamed. She was about to slam her door shut but thought better of it. She quickly dug her fingernails into the palm of her hand. The pain helped clear her head of the anger. She didn't need to be so upset. She just needed it to not have happened. Sarah ran back over to her bed and lifted each pillow, smelling it all over. She repeated the same words over and over again. "Please just one of you smell like him. Just one. Just one. Just..." She didn't hear Irene yelling with her dad about her. She didn't hear her father trying to defend his firstborn. She didn't hear any of that.

Sarah lay on her bed, staring at the ceiling with her hair and limbs sprawled out around her. She couldn't cry anymore. She'd been cried out for a month now. But after an hour of smelling her pillows she figured that she couldn't go on doing the useless anymore. She wasn't doing much better just laying here on her back, though, but she didn't care. She was pissed off, and there was no correcting Irene's horrible, horrible mistake. Once again, her step mother had ruined everything. _"No surprises there,"_ Sarah thought dryly. She couldn't keep with these childish displays of anger.

She turned over onto her side and stared up out the window. The sky was dark, and the stars were covered by dark storm clouds. A flash of lightning and the booming crackle of thunder issued the warning of rain. Sure enough, a few moments after the rumble of thunder died, the rhythm of rain could be heard pounding on the roof and any other surface it could make its way to. She probably should explain something to Irene. Perhaps it was best that she just look in on Toby. He'd been awfully quiet the entire time. Sarah slowly sat up and swung her legs around, planting her heels firmly down as she raised herself off the bed. She stood up and walked to the other side of her room. With one hand on the handle and the other hand pressed against the door just above it, she slowly pulled her door open. Sarah felt a panic rise up in her. All was silent in the house. The house had been quiet since Irene had stopped yelling, actually. The panic was practically bubbling over in Sarah now. "Oh, God. Oh, God," she murmured, going back into her room. Why did Irene have to do that? That was Jareth's pillow! The Pillow! Sarah sighed and put her face in her hands. She was overreacting as usual. She allowed herself a few moments as she quickly gathered herself up. She needed to go apologize or...

Sarah looked at her bed. She just wanted to sleep, to drift off, and to wake up to the smell of Jareth. Sarah picked her head up and slowly sat down on her bed. She kicked her shoes off and shimmied out of her pants. "I just really need to sleep right now and have this GO away." Sarah slipped the silken comforter over her body and rested her head on the formerly Jareth scented pillow. "God has a cruel sense of humor."

* * *

"Didymus, you'll never guess what I've learned today," Jareth said, smiling one of his predatory smiles. The small knight hoped desperately that it wasn't meant for him. The Goblin King was sprawled across his throne as usual, and the knight stood before him.  
"Whatever didst thou learn, Sire?" Sir Didymus asked cautiously. He was beginning to think that he was the only creature that Jareth actually spoke to. "Where art all the goblins...?" 

"I have found out through informers that the person responsible for the espionage is one of three young rulers. One is the dearest cousin of John, a Fae who works for Sarah's mother. The other two are both under 300 years old, which would fit what the spies said about a young ruler. One of the other two has ties to Bloody Bones," Jareth said, watching Didymus carefully. "Do you know what this means?"

"That the one with ties to Bloody Bones is probably going to use the..." Jareth paused, a look of utter disgust and horror flitting across his features, "_creature_ to attack the Labyrinth."

"Canst thou simply place a warding spell since Your Majesty now knows the creature's name?" Didymus replied. Jareth looked annoyed.

"Yes, Didymus. That would work- if it were possible to ward off Bloody Bones…. Its magic is even more ancient than mine. It's immortal, actually immortal. You cannot kill it in any way. Neither lead nor silver nor salt is effective against it," Jareth said slowly. "Only if High King Oberon and I worked together could we do something. Do you know what that means?" Jareth leaned forward to look into the knight's eyes. He hadn't looked into another's eyes to see into their soul in centuries...

"Your Majesty wouldst have to reveal himself to the High King," Didymus said, finally understanding. Jareth was surprised that the knight actually knew that Jareth couldn't tell the High King and that the knight was far more observant and knowing than he let on.

"You know?"

"Know? That is... yes? I knoweth that Your Highness has hidden his vast, expanding magic from the High King, if that is what Your Lordship meaneth," he replied. Jareth looked at him with more respect.

"I'm actually going to feel more at ease knowing that you'll be watching the Labyrinth while I'm gone, Didymus," the Goblin King said, reclining back on his throne. "You can leave," he said. Didymus looked at Jareth.

"Yes," he bowed his head as he kneeled, "Your Majesty."

* * *

Hmm.. does this seem jumpy to you? Well, IDC! Lol. Okay. So my new nickname, because of that hilarious commercial that uses my namesake, is "IDK my BBF Jill." Oh. Yeah. Chapter Fifteen will be up before next Wednesday. Why? You ask. Because I said so. Plus, it's summer. I should be giving more updates. Not less. . LYLAS! Unless you're a guy.. in which case LYLAB! 


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter Fifteen:

Jareth stood up on the very familiar ledge of the highest tower of the Goblin Castle, looking out over his moonlit kingdom. Two weeks has gone by since that awful mortal holiday of Valentine's Day. The sill he was standing on was cold beneath his boots. The Goblin Kingdom stretched out before him. He'd been neglecting it, and there was much to be done for the people. He had s-o-o-o much paper work to do; it was ridiculous! He'd rebuilt the kingdom after Sarah had left to be much the same as it had been before her sojourn through the Labyrinth. He hadn't been thinking about the Goblin City for the past few months, though. He'd let Sarah and the issue with Sarah get to his head. Jareth felt anger spark behind his eyes. The Goblin King! Off his head over a girl! A human girl no less! He sniffed the night air of the Goblin Kingdom. It was just around that time of year, early March, when the Goblin Kingdom smelled clean the way rain and pine trees do. How could he have let things slip around him like this? That definitely wasn't even in his character to do that. _"That wench,"_ he thought with a cold smirk. He jumped back, and instead of landing on the stone, he simply transported into the Throne Room. It had been a long, long while since he had held Court. He would have to start preparing to hold the Goblin Court now if he wanted it to be operational after his visit to Avalon._ "The game is not yet over, not even close."_

He'd been letting the guards slip up more and more in their changing of posts. He hadn't even attended one government function since Sarah and he… Jareth took a deep, shuddering breath. Things had started to get a little messier than he liked. The Goblin Kingdom wasn't as great as it had once been, and he wanted to fix that. It seemed only Sarah marred his concentration on that task.

The Goblin King checked the time. Hoggle, Didymus, and Ludo would be arriving to see him any minute now. He'd decided to change his plans about having the three of them take care of the Labyrinth while he was gone. Jareth looked down at his gloves as he reclined back on his throne. _"I always get my way, Sarah, and that's not being selfish. I will win,"_ he thought to himself, remembering that he'd held her hands in his with these gloves. "Even if it takes a little longer than expected..." Jareth looked up as a soft rap on the door caught his attention. "Come in," he said, standing up. Hoggle came in somewhat sheepishly, followed by an interested-looking Didymus and the usual, sauntering Ludo.

"What d'yuh want, Sire?"

Jareth shot Hoggle a glare. Hoggle instantly lost his false confidence and reverted into the obedient, sniveling coward he was. "Didymus, you will be taking care of the Labyrinth while I am away. Ludo will... help. Hoggle, you'll be coming with me. You're actions against the pixies hasn't gone unnoticed, and we're not on the most peaceable of terms with them," Jareth announced. Didymus' eyes widened. He hadn't been expecting that. Hoggle immediately tried to get out of it, though.

"What? I can't. I-"

"You are a prince now, Hogsbrain. You have to come to Court and make amends with the pixies. End of story." Jareth's lips curled into a cruel half smirk.

"Hoggle!" he insisted, "And you're the one who made me a prince! And I ain't prince of anything worth being prince over. Besides, they're not even nice pixies."

"Are you saying that the great land of the Goblin Kingdom isn't worth being prince over?" Jareth's tone was dangerous, sliding along the edges of intrigue and malice with slippery easy.

"Careful, Brother Hoggle," Didymus warned under breath. His friend could be a bit daft at times when it came to His Majesty.

"I'm just sayin' that the Bog isn't-"

"You're coming, and that's final," Jareth interrupted, tiring of the train of conversation. He stepped down the steps swiftly and lightly to be closer than necessary to Hoggle. He crouched down, looking at Hoggle condescendingly. "You will need to be fitted for new clothes. These are disgusting. I'll send someone over in the morning."

"Actually, we'll need to discuss what is expected of you, too, and how the procession will proceed." Jareth stood back up and looked down his nose at Hoggle.

"I don't wanna be part of nothin'," Hoggle insisted, craning his neck to look up at the Goblin King. "I just want ta be left in peace."

"Hoggle," Jareth said, adopting a steely tone that Didymus was sure could cut through stone if Jareth wanted it to. "You will do as I say, or I will make you wear dresses for the rest of your lifetime. Or-" Jareth looked at a frightened Hoggle gleefully. "I'll turn you into a goblin." Hoggle's eyes widened.

"All right, all right. I'll go. We won't be gone long, wills we?"

"Not long at all," Jareth smirked, turning around and walking back up the steps to his throne.

"Good, 'cause-" The Goblin King reclined back and glared at his subject. "'Cause nothing."

Jareth sat back on his throne. "That is all. You may leave." The flames in the wall sconces fell a bit lower, and shadows were sent skittering over the walls like fleeting thoughts of wrath. Hoggle quickly followed Didymus out of the Throne Room. Ludo, however, ambled out at his own slow pace, and Jareth transported himself to his room. It was getting late, and he had much to plan. He was going big with his entrance into Avalon. He hadn't attended High Court in many, many years. He needed to let those other supercilious Fae know that he was still the... Jareth looked off out one of his bedroom windows with a frown on his face as he tried to remember. What was it Sarah had said once? _"The biggest, baddest bad ass around,"_ he thought, recalling the memory with a small smile. He'd been telling her a brief,_ brief_ summary of the Fae and their snobbish tendencies. When he'd been explaining how they basically grandstanded everything, she'd said that he had to be _"the biggest, baddest bad ass around or be trampled under foot."_ He'd replied, _"basically."_

Jareth stripped out of his clothes and slipped under his silken comforter. Sheets always got tangled around his legs. _"You're cruel, Sarah." _He shut his eyes, thinking of the infuriating, intoxicating beauty. _"But I wouldn't have you any other way..."_

All was quiet in the darkness of the Goblin Kingdom. When the Lord of the Labyrinth, King of the Goblins slept, it seemed that the whole Goblin Kingdom, Labyrinth included, slept with him. The goblins were quiet. The fieries had no parties or wild get togethers. Even the new additions to the Labyrinth emanated nothing but silence. The Goblin King's bedroom was quiet in the moonlight. No eerie shadows flitted along the walls here, however. The soft, silent moonlight seemed to illuminate the entire room with a dark, evanescent light. The eerie quiet was the only thing to greet Jareth's ears when he suddenly awoke from a nightmare, eyes wide and showing a bit too much white that seemed to have a soft glow in the darkness. He immediately conjured a crystal, muttering, "In the name of-"

He looked in to see Sarah, sleeping safely and soundly in her bed. He breathed a sigh of relief. He didn't know what he would have done if... He threw the crystal away into the air where it disappeared from existence. He hadn't dreamt in close to five hundred years._ "Why this now?"_ It had been so real. He'd seen her blood, so much blood. One gallon doesn't sound like much. When it's covering a loved one, and one can only think, "Shouldn't it be IN her, not ON her?" then one knows that the gallon adds up to much, much more.

The Goblin King touched a hand to his forehead and was surprised when it came away with sweat; cool, cool sweat. He swung his legs off the bed and walked swiftly and silently into the bathroom, splashing his face with water once he reached the sink. He stood naked in front of it, clutching the countertop and taking in deep breaths. Sarah had been out somewhere in his dream, and it had been dark. Then, he had been too late. She'd been covered in blood; it had been splashed across the walls of a dark, wet alley. He had run up to her, holding her lifeless body in his arms. One of her arms had been broken so that the bones were sticking out of her skin, bloody and wet. The way her eyes had been so listless with the blood matting her hair around her face… He'd cried in the dream. The Goblin King never cried. Jareth shook off the image. It had to mean something. His dreams were too rare to signify anything else._ "But what?" _He looked at his carved muscles, illuminated by the vaporous moonlight and felt a touch of pain that Sarah wasn't there with him. What did the dream mean?

_"Bloody Bones..."_ he thought suddenly. _"I've never been one for omens, but..." _The image of Sarah's bloody body came back into his head. _"It needs heeding." _Jareth transported himself up to his favorite window sill and reclined on it against the wall. The entire Goblin Kingdom was silent, and no one would bother him. The moonlight on his angular frame created an interesting effect on his naked flesh. He wouldn't get back to sleep, not with that image in his head. His room with all of its ivory and its sapphire pillows and curtains wasn't exactly a place he could sleep in at present moment. He kept seeing Sarah's blood splashed over the walls._ "Why has she made everything so complicated?"_ He pinched the bridge of his nose. _"I need her, but I can't let her know that she's my weakness. And I still have to deal with Avalon."_ Jareth ran a hand over his face, annoyed and tired of the whole thing._ "Why us, Sarah? Why?"_

"I hate men."

"Really? Hadn't noticed."

"No, seriously," everyone's favorite redhead insisted, "they suck."

"You wanna vent some more how Stephen forgot your birthday?" Sarah asked, clearly bored with the conversation topic. Her shirt was twisted around her, exposing some pale flesh that Michelle seriously thought needed a good tan.

"Yes..." She looked at Sarah slyly. "Unless you wanna tell me more about mysterious Jareth?" Michelle said, arching an eyebrow. Sarah shot her a dark glare, and Michelle laughed. She rolled onto her stomach beside Sarah's bed and propped herself up on her elbows. Sarah lay sprawled out on her back on top of the blankets of her bed.

"Vent away, Your Bitchiness," Sarah replied darkly. Michelle's laughter faded away almost instantaneously. Instead, an angry spark flared behind her eyes, and she looked the epitome of a woman scorned.

"He didn't just forget it, Sarah. I've been reminding him everyday for the past two weeks. I think he purposefully 'forgot it' to piss me off. It's like he's four!"

"More like five. I do love the song 'When I'm Five,'" Sarah mused. Michelle scowled at her from her seal-like position on the floor.

"Thanks for the focus and support, Sarah. Really appreciate it."

"Don't take that tone with me, Michelle. I've got enough to deal with right now with Darius. Besides, I know for a fact that Stephen bought a gorgeous diamond pendant necklace for you, so stop complaining," Sarah snapped. She didn't sleep well last night, and now her shoulders hurt. She hadn't actually fallen asleep until a little past the five in the morning. Then Toby woke her up at seven to watch cartoons. That had been fourteen hours ago. "I bet that he's waiting outside your house right now."

Michelle's face went from dark and angry to extremely apologetic. "I didn't- I'm sorry, Sarah. It's just- A diamond necklace?" Her face lit up. She'd been so mad at him, and he'd been so thoughtful... "That's wonderful! I'm sorry, Sarah, really. I just-"

"Save your excuses for someone who cares, Michelle. Right now, I just don't have it in me to care." Then Irene had yelled at her to stop being lazy and do something around the house.

"Jesus, Sarah. When you're a bitch, you're really a bitch. I mean, we were all there for you when you were depressed. But if we have one bad day and we go to you, then we're complaining. Way to be supportive," Michelle said haughtily, gathering up her stuff. She paused by the door. "Call me tomorrow if you're in a better mood."

"Whatever," Sarah turned over. She'd then told Irene that she could go kill herself for all she cared. All she ever did was hurt her and Toby and cause problems for their family. Irene had ran out of the house. Apparently, she saw something in Sarah's eyes that scared her more than anything else had. She turned back onto her back. Her dad had already left for work at six. Neither had come home yet. Toby was asleep and silent in his own room, but… It didn't matter. She just had nearly four months left until school was out. She'd be going to UCLA for their anthropology program or possibly dating Jareth the Goblin King and Lord of the Labyrinth. Maybe even both. _"Shit,"_ she thought as she heard the phone ring. Sarah jumped up and ran to the phone.

"Hello?"

"Is this Sarah?"

"Hey, Peter," she replied, happy that it wasn't Irene or Robert. Peter's voice sounded a little on edge, though. "What's up? You sound... upset?"

"Yeah, I just got short changed by a very ugly woman who tells horrible stories in a coffee shop," he said with a little bit more humor to his voice. "I was just calling to say that Disney and Paramount both want you for separate movies but won't work with you if you do both." His voice was definitely excited now.

"Well, I'll just audition for each and decide which one from the-"

"No. You don't get it, Sarah. No audition required. They want you."

"Why?"

"They saw photos of you from this year's Homecoming in your portfolio and thought you'd be perfect," he replied.

"Wait. My modeling is getting me an acting job?"

"Yup."

"Sweet. What are the films?" she asked before thinking. "Wait. Peter, which picture?"

He hesitated for a moment. "Disney saw the picture of you by the fountain looking up at the stars."

"And what about Paramount?"

Peter didn't reply.

"Did Paramount see the racy one of me, Peter? Is that the job you want me to take?"

"Yes," he replied quietly. "Spielberg loved it. He thought the picture of you dancing in the slit skirt while baring your midriff would be worth giving you two million."

Sarah felt her breathing catch and her heart flutter. "Holy crap."

"Yeah."

"What are the two films' titles and their roles?"

"Disney's is some animated movie based off the Hans Christian Anderson story about a mermaid. Paramount is the next Indiana Jones movie, The Last Crusade. The character is Dr. Elsa Schneider, Indiana's love interest."

"Isn't that a little old for me?"

"Obviously not. They wanted someone young, just eighteen. Your character could be a 'tough as nails' prodigy."

"Jesus," she breathed. "I'm not eighteen yet, Peter."

"You will be."

"Yeah bu-"

"Two million, Sarah. Just take it." Sarah rolled her eyes.

"Tell them yes." She hung up without saying goodbye or even a 'talk to you later.' She wasn't in the mood today. In fact, today she was outright cruel- the Sarah that Jareth knew and loved so well. _"Ugh. I have school tomorrow."_ She dragged herself back to her bed and stared up at the ceiling. Sarah didn't even care that it was just Toby and her. _"I hate Sundays."_

Sarah awoke to the twittering of birds outside her window. She opened her eyes, feeling quite annoyed. School pissed her off, but waking up before her alarm went off because of birds made her even angrier. She sighed heavily and dragged herself out of bed. She quickly changed into a pair of Sergio Valente jeans and a vintage looking, pale pink blouse. It brought out the rose hues in her complexion. Sarah laid back down on her bed and actually looked at her clock. "It is… 5:38 in the morning," she said aloud to no one in particular. "This sucks." Sarah got up again, thinking to look through her closet and maybe find something else to wear in order to waste time. She moved hangers aside and looked up on top of the shelf that lined the top of her rack of clothes. "Hey. Oh, crap." She looked right into the seemingly endless depths of a very finite crystal sphere. Sarah slowly grabbed the crystal and pulled it down. She took the crystal back to her bed, holding it in one hand and using the other hand to dig her nails into the palm of her hand. _"How could I be so... so forgetful!"_ she thought angrily. It was a present from her mother, a piece of Jareth. It had totally slipped her mind! _"How stupid can I be?!" _Sarah was annoyed with herself. She could have been spying on him, and what was she doing? Pining over the loss of THE pillow. _"I'm retarded."_

Sarah held the crystal up in her right hand, looking into its mesmerizing depths with an intense, focused certainty. "Show me my Jareth," she whispered before she could think twice. _**"My**__ Jareth? Where'd that come from? He's not mine. Well, not yet. If we can work something ou- Hey! It's working!"_ Sarah thought quickly as the inside of the crystal seemed to swirl before her. Jareth came into focus, sleeping what seemed to be a peaceful slumber. She felt breath catch in her throat. He still seemed to be dominating even in his sleep. The cruelty that usually surrounded his eyes and lips, though, was gone. A single beam of moonlight was able to slide into the room through one of the windows. The others were blocked by heavy curtains. The moonlight seemed to simply glide and whisper its way through the room until it slid over Jareth's exposed skin. He just seemed to be hard and beautiful. He was always so frighteningly beautiful to her. It seemed that if Sarah did, in fact, find a way to be with Jareth, she'd be breaking the cardinal rule. Sarah smirked. _"Never date someone prettier than you,"_ she thought, looking over at the mirror. Her room was dark, and she could still see the stars in the midnight blue skies outside. Sarah looked back down at the crystal, and the image swirled again. This time, an image of- "What the hell?" Sarah breathed.

Her mouth suddenly formed an 'O' as it opened in a soundless scream. She dropped the crystal in her lap and lifted a hand up to her mouth. She felt like she was going to be sick. _"That was…" _The image had been disgusting. An eight foot tall person had appeared- if a person could exist without their skin. It was like its head, raw and bloody, had been skinned with the nose, ears, lips, and eyelids cut off. The muscles along it had rippled with the movement of standing and dark, gel-like liquid oozed out of the place where organs should have been. Instead of looking like a person, it looked just like a bunch of raw meat that someone had used an ice cream scooper on to remove the organs- just removed with dark ooze creeping down the walls of the rib cage. That had been a person! _"Or maybe not,"_ Sarah thought. The eyes-

Sarah squeezed her eyes shut and still couldn't erase the memory it had left behind. They were pale grey, soulless. They weren't empty; there was a raw intelligence, the kind one must see right before the lion clamps down on your jugular. _"It looked at me,"_ she thought to herself. Those grey eyes had turned themselves onto her as if it could see her spying. It was like when it looked at her, it didn't see her at all, though. It was as if it stared at a different reality, one where everything was food, just at different levels of difficulty. She shuddered and felt her throat convulse. She was going to be sick._ "Shit. I need to research what this means."_

After Sarah had gone to school, ran by the library, and had done her homework, she went home. The brunette quickly thumbed through the pages of the book she'd checked out of the library as she sat by the window on her bed. 'Celtic and Gaelic Lore and Boggles" was the book. It had everything from Fin McCool to the little people, to leprechauns. Of course, she was looking for anything that had to do with the Fae. So far, she'd uncovered more knowledge that she hadn't known about the Seelie Court and something Jareth apparently hadn't known about the Unseelie Court. Actually, there was a whole lot that she didn't know about the Fae.

Jareth really was borderline between Seelie and Unseelie because of the large amount of "public relations" that he did with the Aboveground. He was still Seelie Court, but if he ever chose to abuse his power more than he did, then he would be Unseelie. Fae seemed to look down on humans and mixing with them, so Jareth's job wasn't exactly envied. There was a lot more in this book than she'd imagined. It had tons of useless information- like that Jareth was the sixth oldest son in his family. _"A lot of testosterone in that house..."_ she mused. There was plenty of information in it about the goblins and their hierarchy, too. It also went into an in- depth, detailed account of how the more intelligent goblins Aboveground managed to get there and run their own bank in the rarely seen magical world Aboveground. _"I wonder if witches are actually real, too…"_

None of what she'd learned had anything to do with the vision she'd had. She'd been looking for Jareth. Why had she seen that creature? That "Boggle?" Sarah sighed in exasperation and tried to block the creature's retching worthy image from her mind. "This is pointless." She dropped the book in her lap and looked out her window. She looked back at the book. "You suck." She picked it up again. "I have to know if it meant something. It had to mean something." Then Sarah got a brilliant idea. "The Index... I'm retarded." She flipped to the back of the book and looked up blood. _"Rawhead and Bloody Bones? That sounds promising..."_ she thought. _"Page six hundred ninety eight?"_ She flipped back to that page in the book. "Oh, my," she murmured. The description in the book fit exactly what she'd seen. _"Did whoever wrote this see it, too?"_ she wondered. She looked over what the book said about Bloody Bones.

"A nursery boggle of the most gruesome kind. Rawhead and Bloody Bones' tale was usually used to explain why people got lost near lakes or bodies of water. Rawhead and Bloody Bones is an immortal, single entity that issupposedly known to take its victims when they've acted badly and drown them, eating their corpses in order to gain more power. However, the boggle is all muscle, blood, and bones and immortal. No lead, silver, knife, sword, or bullet can kill it as it is truly immortal in the God- sense."

Sarah's mouth formed a horrified 'O' for the second time that day. Did that mean that-? "Oh, God." She dropped the book again and ran to get the crystal out of her drawer, where she had put it for safe keeping. "Show me, Jareth." The crystal swirled lazily for a few moments before kicking in and showing her Jareth, who was working diligently at his desk. He was staring down at some papers chewing on the end of a quill. "Thank God," she breathed. "He's still okay." She looked back at the book's opened page.

"It is truly immortal in the God- sense."

Sarah shuddered and looked back at Jareth, who signed the bottom of some page and then got up to stretch. _"He has such a cute butt..." _she thought as he turned around before sitting back down. _"And he has such an adorable work mentality,"_ she noted happily. She looked at the book again.

"…truly immortal..."

_"He's okay, but for how long?"_ Sarah thought to herself. She bit her lip as her brows knit together in concentration. She had no way of keeping him safe that she knew of. All she could do was hope and watch. _"In a rather stalker-ish sort of way."_ Sarah breathed out and closed her eyes, trying to think peaceful, not bloody, thoughts. "_Please be okay long enough for me to see you again. I promise I'll try to work us out. I promise. If you come back... When you come back, we'll find a way." _Sarah smiled. "At least you're okay now," she said aloud, falling back onto her pillows. _"And I am so thankful that you are."_


	16. Chapter 16

**For Keeps:**

Sarah's been out of the Labyrinth for 6 months, and her seemingly instant maturity hasn't gone unnoticed. When Jareth shows up, seeking to understand how she beat him, things progress down a path neither could have anticipated. JS

**Disclaimer- All Standard Disclaimers Apply**

Chapter Sixteen:

* * *

"Sarah! Put in more pout!" 

"What?"

"More pout! Sexy!" Sarah gave the photographer an angry glare. "Ooh! That works," he cooed, his camera snapping off pictures like crazy. Sarah looked up at the sky above her with a wistful look on her face. "Nice. Now, gimme envy." She looked at the ocean enviously. It was allowed to be free and never had to make decisions. Sure, there was the constant battle with the moon, but she could live with that. "Gimme malice." It didn't have to worry about every which way it was going. It didn't have to worry that Jareth could die at any moment. Fae's immortality wasn't true immortality. It was just longevity. She was so ignorant about everything, and not knowing pissed her off. "Sarah!" Sarah felt her face contort into anger. "Sarah!" She knelt down on the sand. "SARAH!" Sarah took a breath to cleanse herself. She then spread her legs in the sand, leaning back on her heels and leaning forward with her hands atop either thigh. She looked at the photographer, who instantly started clicking pictures away as her face changed from seductive to euphoric to indifferent. When he'd finished, he gave Sarah a funny look.

"Did you talk to Iman or Linda E. or what?"

"What do you mean?" Sarah asked, getting up from the sand. The shoot was obviously over. They'd been there for nearly six hours. _"Pretty short for an editorial shoot."_

"I've worked with you twice now, and you've never brought the seductive diva to the shoot. Where'd she come from?" Sarah felt herself freeze up. Where had it come from? That wasn't her. She wasn't a seductive diva, or maybe she was. She didn't know.

"I don't know," she answered truthfully. Sarah didn't have it in her to lie. She'd rather be brutally honest with anyone than have to lie. Well, honest with everyone but herself. Self denial is a convenient thing. "I guess I just sort of did what I thought would work."

"Yeah. But the anger you had on your face before you went to seductive was positively Cindy," Jason the photographer replied. Sarah blushed.

"Thanks, but I don't think that-"

"Don't argue. I'm right on this one," he interrupted. Sarah flexed her hands in and out of fists as she felt anger spark in her. She has had a lot of anger lately. She'd have to ask her dad about taking up a kick boxing class. Jason walked away to the umbrella they had set up with water, make up, and other standard photo shoot essentials. Sarah watched one of the other models do a line of cocaine off a compact mirror with something akin to horror on her face. She quickly covered it up, though, hiding the emotion in her face with a blank mask that even Jareth would have been proud of. If she ever became involved with Court politics, she'd have to become much better at hiding her emotions. "Go home, Sarah," he said. Sarah nodded and quickly changed. She hated early March weather, and she hated that swimsuit shoots had to be done so early in the year.

"Thanks, Jason." Sarah walked off, arms folded in front of her chest, clutching herself. Photo shoots sometimes left her feeling sexy; sometimes they left her feeling tired. Today, it left her feeling dirty and powerful, an odd mix for Sarah Williams. She slid into her car seat, buckled her seatbelt, and inhaled shakily. She'd just gotten her license, and driving felt both natural and strange. "I just wanna go somewhere and read," she said aloud, leaning forward so that her head rested against the top of the steering wheel. The book on the fae was in the passenger seat next to her. She took in another breath and sat up straight. "Come on, Sarah Williams. You're tough, sexy, talented, and loved by the Goblin King himself." The words made her feel better and worse. She put the keys in the ignition and started up the car. Putting it into reverse, she said, "I only hope that it's all enough."

Sarah was sprawled out on the ridge of her peaked roof, a place she'd never tried to read on before, and found it amazingly comfortable and comforting. She felt more at peace, at one with everything around her. She felt as if all the conflicting emotions were able to arrange themselves to make perfect sense as she read her book on the fae. She was now beginning to understand what was so wrong with everything she'd done with Jareth, the first time she ever even looked at him! She'd messed it up from the beginning. He'd done nothing but been incredibly polite in the terms of Sidhe faerie. He'd given her an appreciative look, something you do when the other is attractive. It was considered a deathly insult if you didn't compliment the Gentry was obviously dressing to impress. Sarah hadn't said one word about his regalia, though it was obvious he had dressed for the occasion. He'd never lied to her once; it was against the fae to lie. Ever. He'd done everything perfectly, and out of ignorance, she'd royally destroyed everything. She would make sure to have him swear to her that he loved her. She wanted him to know how serious she was about this relationship, how much she needed reassurance.

The brunette turned over onto her back and looked up at the now overcast sky. It was supposed to rain tomorrow. Maybe the storm was coming in faster than expected. They'd been fine for the photo shoot earlier in the afternoon. Sarah sighed as she noticed the sky. "Oh, well. That's the weather," Sarah murmured. She returned her book to her room and stared up at the now cloudy sky from her rooftop. She wanted to be up here, one with herself, as it rained. She wanted to understand Jareth and his culture. He said he wouldn't come for her until the six months was up. It nearly was, and she still had so much more to learn in a very little amount of time.

Plus, she had the whole fliming thing with the Indiana Jones movie going to start...soon. She'd have to ask Peter when that was. Sarah suddenly started with a gasp and sat up. What was she going to do about Darius? They couldn't continue seeing each other! Not after what she'd decided... Sarah paused. _"I have decided, haven't I? I never really… I did. I love Jareth. I'm going to give it a shot but not let go of everyone else."_ but they'd all become friends, and Darius himself had told her that he knew he wasn't first in her affections and hadn't pursued the matter. When Jareth comes for her, Darius would understand. Jareth should understand. After all, the fae didn't look down on sleeping with people the way humans did. Dating would be hardly anything, right? Somehow, Sarah didn't believe Jareth would be so forgiving. Wasn't he Seelie? Or was he Unseelie?

She sighed. "Stupid, Sarah. You're going to have to check out more books. He isn't really either." The goblin kingdom, although being ruled by a Sidhe, was not truly of either Court. It was more a court unto itself with Jareth being Seelie Sidhe having to answer to Oberon as High King of the Seelie Court. Whoever had assisted Jareth in getting the throne had obviously planned on getting the Goblin Kingdom to be allied with the Seelie Court, the glittering throng. Sarah was betting the Seelie Court wasn't as great as everyone made it out to me. In fact, she was betting that she'd like the Unseelie Court better. Apparently, the Unseelie Court took everyone in. Sarah thought that was awfully democratic of them. Then again, since they came first, maybe the U.S. of A. was more Unseelie than they thought. Sarah sighed and rubbed her temples. All the politics made her head spin, and she really was going to have to learn all the protocol a lot better.

"Jareth, I need-" Sarah stopped before she could finish the thought aloud. Hadn't Jareth said that summons were really annoying? Especially one he wasn't going to answer would just be irksome to him. She didn't want to distract him from business. After all, the goblins were the foot soldiers, the backbone, of the Seelie and Unseelie armies. If either went to war with anyone, it was Jareth they would go to for permission. She had no idea what was going on in the Underground, and in their last meeting, Jareth had seemed slightly stressed about something...

A raindrop landed on the tip of Sarah's nose, and she looked up at the sky. Jareth was a perfect specimen of a Seelie Sidhe from what she had read, except for his eyes. The eyes were very Unseelie. Sarah wondered who his parents had been. She needed to find a Sidhe fae to talk to. Surely, surely, they would know. Sarah thought about it. How is it that Jareth didn't explain any of this to her? She'd been so ignorant. She hadn't known that every time he appeared, dressed beautifully, that she was supposed to compliment him. How could she know that to address his title with scorn was an insult that usually merited death by torture? How was she to know that her bluntness was considered very, very rude? The fae never asked direct questions; one is never to ask, only take what is freely given.

That stopped Sarah. Thunder rumbled, and the rain fell unceremoniously with a vengeance. Jareth had offered her love. He had offered her security. For an immortal- some fae were truly immortal; Sarah wondered if Jareth was one of the elders who actually was ((singular since I'm speaking about ONE person, not the group)) immortal- but to love a mortal, it was a very humbling thing he had done. It never ended well for the fae involved, not from what she had read, anyway. It seemed an automatic death sentence when it came to the hearts of both involved. He offered her himself, and she'd been callous.

"Oh, God. I'm sorry," she murmured, looking up as the rain stung her skin. How was it that the rain seemed to never get her eyes? She spoke now, gently, certain for an unknown reason that Jareth would hear. "I'm sorry, so sorry, Jareth the Goblin King. You looked amazing from the start, and you were polite from the beginning. For me to accuse you of anything else was unforgivable. I only hope to be able to repent and regain the trust I lost." She smiled. Jareth would hear her. She just knew it. "I love you."

* * *

Jareth was in the middle of overseeing some very important construction when Sarah's words came to him like a caress carried on the breeze. He looked up at the sky, which really wasn't sky, with his entire face blanked by a mask of arrogance. He was dressed for the cool weather of the Labyrinth that day, tight black pants, a white tunic with blue toggles and royal blue lining, and soft, black leather boots that came to the knees. He couldn't stop the surprise from showing in his eyes when he heard her words. What had Sarah been doing that she had managed to speak so that her words were carried to the Underground and that she knew the etiquette of the fae? 

"Carry on without me, Kreeg," Jareth said to the goblin who was in charge of the project. He really hadn't needed to be there. It was just something to do to avoid the last bit of paperwork on his desk. He nimbly transported himself off back to the castle. He had promised himself that he wouldn't have contact! How had she been able to contact him? That was an ability the humans had lost many, many years ago when they had stopped worshipping the Sidhe as gods. He knew she didn't worship him as a god. She had seen him in the most vulnerable state that anyone had ever seen him, except for his mother, but that was another story entirely.

The Goblin King paced his throne room. That should not have been able to happen. He had heard her speak before, but that was only around a wish. Fae don't really grant wishes; they hear them and give a gift or spell similar to the desire, which was why he was concerned he could hear her speak. She obviously desired him to hear her, but that simply doesn't happen. Jareth looked up at a nearby mirror. He could use it to spy on Sarah, but…._ "I've foresworn contact_," he thought for the umpteenth time. Fae don't break promises, and they don't ever lie. To do either is to be cast out of Faerie. Jareth wouldn't risk that. He looked around. He'd been working on rebuilding the Labyrinth. When Sarah had been here last, it had obviously neglected. The grass had been dead, except for what had been tended, and the very sky had been fading. Now he was working on something much more difficult. Everything had to be perfect for when Sarah returned. He was working on a task that not even Oberon, with all his pretense of goodness and light in the Seelie Court, was doing Jareth was restoring the dying life and magic back to the Labyrinth and Goblin Kingdom.

Jareth had known for nearly two hundred years that the Seelie Court was dying. It had been obvious to him when Oberon started having more than one royal consort. The cycle of Consort and Goddess had long been respected among the Sidhe Fae. Oberon had broken that cycle when he was no longer producing heirs. Of course, the Seelie had turned a blind eye to it. _"How could their precious court be anything other than goodness and radiant beauty?"_ he thought mockingly. Jareth was part of it, but that was only because of lineage. He knew that if Oberon didn't value his allegiance with the goblins so much that he would not even be Seelie. Sometimes Jareth wondered if he should throw his allegiance to the Unseelie Court. He'd been invited by Queen Gwenivere, the Unseelie Queen of Death and Air, countless times. He wondered why he was still alive. To say that the Queen did not accept his refusal well as an understatement. Jareth suddenly froze.

He could protect Sarah. He knew he could, but he knew that he couldn't protect her from all the evils that the Court produced. Even if he has wanted to, it would have been seen as sign of weakness if he fought all her fights. Weak queens do not stay on a throne of any kind. Jareth shook his head. "Sarah's strong; she knows she is. Not physically, though, or magically." Jareth jumped into the air and transported up to the windowsill of the high tower with ease. Now, he had something awful to deal with. How was he supposed to protect Sarah when he couldn't simply just use one of his hands of power on her enemies? He'd have to explain his hands of power to her. She probably didn't know anything about that. He looked out over his kingdom. It had been coming to life before his eyes. Oberon wouldn't be pleased. That brought a devilish smile to his face. He was going to have so much fun in the Seelie Court! Perhaps enough that he would be able to tell Oberon he was switching to Unseelie. After all, Jareth's was the first Goblin Kingdom to be included in the Seelie Court. The Seelie Sidhe wouldn't tolerate his subjects, the goblins, in the court, though. They considered them an abomination to Faerie. The brownies, the demi-fey, even humans were all right with the supercilious. Goblins weren't. Jareth had been raised to believe that, even as he took the throne to the Goblin Kingdom. When had he changed?

Was it not barely a month ago that he kicked them out windows without regret? Now, he viewed them as equals. Jareth paused in his thoughts. _"That's not true. I just don't see them as subjects to be kicked around, not equals, because they aren't."_ A monarch's job is to take care of his or her subjects. Jareth looked sullenly back into the castle. The goblins- snake goblins, Nilbogs, the malevolent Kallikantzaros, the gentle kobolds, the mischievous hobgoblins, and even the fearsome Red Caps- they had all been less than sentient to him. Now, he looked on them as citizens, citizens he was supposed to protect. He blamed Sarah for his "change of heart." The Goblin King transported himself to his bedroom. If Sarah could contact him through all the walls of the Sithen… Maybe he needed to reevaluate her and the little magicks that had sprung up around her. She had been able to call her friends through the mirror from inside the Sithen- the Underground- and bring them into all that cold iron. Fae powers were supposed to be hard to work around cold iron. Maybe her human blood changed that.

"Could she have the hand of far reaching?" Jareth thought. He immediately had an urge to cast the thought aside. After all, Sarah was not fae; she was human. He knew that for a fact. Could she be one of the first human in centuries to have some of the powers of the sidhe? That was a very real possibility, but how could she have gotten it? She didn't worship the fae; of course, adoration on any scale is a form of worship. She didn't paint herself with any signs of favor. That tradition of calling favor had been lost just a bit after he had been born. "My two hundredth year..." he murmured absentmindedly. Jareth felt irritation beginning its annoying gnaw. "I won't know until I can ask her. Consort help me, but I have to wait until then. I only hope she doesn't call on something too big." Jareth thought of Bloody Bones, "Be safe, Sarah. I want to be able to strangle you myself for being such a stubborn woman." Jareth smiled, despite the morbidity. "Well, not really strangle. Just a stern talking to." And then Jareth did something he hadn't done in nearly a millennium; he got down on his knees beside his bed and prayed to the goddess or whichever deity would listen that Sarah would be safe. Sarah was safe, staying at her mother's house as she filmed in Hollywood for her debut feature film. Mannan Mac Lir was helping see to that. Jareth just hoped, with his leaving the next day, that everything would be okay.

* * *

"So how do you like the script, Sarah?" 

Sarah looked up at Harrison Ford. She still went weak in the knees when he spoke to her. She was in love with Jareth, but that didn't stop her from being star-struck over the gorgeous celebrity. She beamed him a smile. "It's wonderfully written, and I love the idea behind it." He smiled back at her.

"Good. If you said otherwise, I'd have to kick you out," he replied, flashing a roguish smile andd making casual banter. Sarah had been surprised that he wasn't stuck up. Of course, maybe that was because she had only recently gotten over being so stuck up herself that she was surprised when others weren't.

"Well, it's a good thing that I found it delightful then, huh?" He didn't get a chance to reply because the director, _the_ Steven Spielberg, cut in.

"All right. Go home, guys. We're not getting anymore work done today."

"Thank you!" Sarah called before quickly gathering up her stuff. She looked up and was surprised to see Harrison still staring at her. She raised her eyebrows, a surprised, worried expression on her face. "What? Do I have something on my face?" He smiled.

"No, your face is just fine," he said.

"Oh, what a compliment that was," she murmured under her breath.

"I meant that your face is pretty, beautiful even," he said. Sarah blushed intensely.

"Oh, you don't need to-"

Harrison's chortle cut through her speech. It was that rich, throaty sound that males utter that usually makes women go weak in the knees. Sarah sure did. "What I mean to say is, would you like to get dinner with me?"

Sarah looked sharply at him. "You know I'm still a minor, right?"

It was his turn to give her a look as he raised his hands in a blameless gesture. "I'm not asking for sex or anything."

Sarah blushed again. "I didn't mean to-"

"Yes, you did. It's all right. Just make it up to me by going to dinner with me."

Sarah thought of Darius. She still hadn't broken up with him yet. Maybe she should take care of that first? She loved Jareth, though, and she was going to try to make it work between them! "God help me, but I'm going to try." Sarah looked at Harrison, _the _Harrison Ford, again. "Sure, but not tonight. Tomorrow."

His mouth formed that grin that Sarah had seen guys get before when they knew they could get what they want, and not in the Burger King sense. "I'll pick you up say... after work?"

"Sure. Here at...when we get out?" she grinned back. _"Hollywood relationships never last. Besides, the publicity will be good."_ Her grin went even wider as she turned around and walked out.

"It's a date!" he called to her. She waved in acknowledgment without turning around.

_"Peter's going to have a heart attack... so are Stephen and Michelle_." Her face went sullen. "Oh, God. Jareth's going to kill something." She gulped. _"Or someone. I wonder what it would do for my career and life in general if Jareth and I came out as a couple... him revealing Faerie kind and me as the Queen of the Goblin Realm…" _She cast the thought aside with a gasp at her selfishness as she slid into her car. "Bad, Sarah, bad. Don't think something so awful and selfish. That's the old you." Everyone's favorite brunette started up her car and put on her seatbelt, not necessarily in that order, as she mentally berated herself. She put the car in reverse and left the studio lot.

_"I don't know why I have to automatically conclude that Jareth and I will get married. I mean, who's it say that it will work out?"_ Sarah thought, but she knew better. She wasn't a casual relationship person. She couldn't be happy with that. _"I want more, and I really love him so much that I want to spend the rest of my life with him."_ She drove along the streets of Hollywood. _"Even if he lives on after me to find a new wife,"_ she added as a sullen after thought. Sarah came to a red light and rested her head on the top of the wheel. "Oh, God. What am I doing? I don't even know. I'm just- I'm too young!" Sarah moaned aloud.

A honk sounded from behind her, and Sarah narrowed her eyes at the woman in the rear view mirror as she started forward._ "How rude,"_ she thought. Sarah turned on the radio, and Wham's Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go sounded out of the speakers as she drove. She rolled down her windows and let the music blast as her hair streamed out the window behind her. If she didn't concentrate on something other than Jareth and her future, she was going to scream. "What a horrible woman," she said, concentrating how horrible drivers were. Then, her plans for the night popped up. "_I need to break up with Darius. I don't think he'll mind too much. After all, he does seem very... understanding."_ Sarah sighed. _"I need to ask Mom. Harrison's in his twenties for God's sake!"_

* * *

"Yer Majesty, I don't like this. I don't like it one bit." 

"Oh, shut up, Hogsbrain," Jareth snapped. Hoggle had been complaining for the last three hours about how much he hated the idea of going to the Seelie Court dressed appropriately for his station. Jareth was beginning to wish that he could wish Hoggle away to the goblins. Sadly, it didn't work that way in the Underground of the Sithen. Besides, then he'd have to take Hoggle away, and it really wouldn't do any good. Unless he turned him into a goblin. _"That would be fun," _he thought, eyeing the dwarf maliciously. The look made Hoggle shift nervously in his seat across from Jareth. The coach was comfortable enough, black leather with white accents everywhere. Even the inside walls were paneled black with white, bas relief designs of goblin battle scenes depicted on them.

"Now, what ye lookin' at me like that for?" he asked, shifting uncomfortably. Jareth blinked, and the look vanished. He reclined back in his seat.

"What are you babbling on about?" Before Hoggle could reply, Jareth cut in. "Do you know why the Seelie Court has been doing so well all these years?"

"I- erm, no," Hoggle replied, taken aback at the quick change of subject. Jareth looked nonchalantly out the window. Everything had always come quite easily to him, except, Seelie Court politics. He would have to visit the Unseelie Court someday. He'd been taken once as a child and couldn't remember anything.

"It hasn't," Jareth said. "It's only looked that way. The Fae of the glittering throng are masters at illusion. That includes their own decline," Jareth replied. "First, they lost the chalice. Next, the horn of Medb. Then, all the precious artifacts and treasures started slipping away. For the past four hundred years it has been on the decline, and Oberon won't admit it. If anyone says anything in admittance, they are banished from the Seelie Court." Jareth looked back at Hoggle, a thoughtful look in his mismatched eyes. "And yet, the Unseelie Court still has their treasures. The coach that leads the Wild Hunt has not been lost. Though, I'm told now it has changed shape to a limousine. They still have their weapons of magic that can cause true death. The Unseelie Queen's ring can still tell a fertile couple from the sterile. The supposed glittering throng has lost the Goddess' blessing, but the 'evil' Unseelie Court still has their treasures. Why do you think all this is, Hoggle?"

"I don't know. If Oberon is coverin' it up, then don't that mean he's not fit to be king?" Hoggle asked carefully.

"I wouldn't say such things if I were you, Hoggle. It could mean your death in the Seelie Court," he said with a nod. "But yes, he should be made to step down."

"I don't know nothin' 'bout the politics, do I," he said more than he asked as he looked down at the floor that his short legs couldn't reach.

Jareth gave a Hoggle a predatory smile. "That's why you'll stay silent, and I'll do the talking. If anyone asks, you're a mute."

"This sounds awful," Hoggle said angrily, sounding very much like a petulant child.

"It is." Jareth said, nodding, looking back out the window at the changing scenery. "Oh, how it is."

* * *

OKAY. So This is an edumacational chapter. I am SOOO sorry it took so long to update. I've had it written for...ages. But it took forever on both my part and my beta's to correct. SORRY! Anyway- I hope you enjoy it. 


	17. Chapter 17

**For Keeps:**

Sarah's been out of the Labyrinth for 6 months, and her seemingly instant maturity hasn't gone unnoticed. When Jareth shows up, seeking to understand how she beat him, things progress down a path neither could have anticipated. JS

**Disclaimer- All Standard Disclaimers Apply**

Chapter Seventeen:

* * *

"What have you been up to, Jareth?" Sarah thought, staring up at the ceiling. "I miss you. Why- I wish things would just work out." She sighed rather loudly as a knock on the hotel room door brought her out of her reverie. She swung her legs over the side of the bed and walked over to the door, checking to see who it was first. An attendant in the hotel uniform's white button up shirt, black slacks, and maroon tie stood outside with a cart. She opened up the door. "Can I help you?" Sarah asked, cocking her head to the side. She didn't order any room service.

"A gentleman in the penthouse sent you some breakfast," the attendant explained, a faint accent that sounded Southern encasing his words.

"Thank you," Sarah said, confused as to who would order her breakfast. It seemed rather strange to her. She opened the door to allow the attendant to bring the cart into the room. He had tan skin and blonde hair that looked like it saw quite a bit of sun. Sarah met his eyes for a moment and felt her jaw drop.

"Anything else you need, Miss Williams? The gentleman wanted to remain anonymous, but has requested payment of any food you should need," he finished. Sarah tried to pay attention to the words coming out of his mouth, but found herself having difficulty breathing. He had brown and blue eyes. Of course, other people had them. Sarah just didn't envision herself meeting one in her lifetime. Well, with her luck...

"I'm fine, thanks. Bye." Sarah shut the door behind him, trying to get control of herself. She didn't want to constantly be dwelling on Jareth like this. It seemed unhealthy. Okay, that wasn't true. She knew it was unhealthy. It was wrong. Age difference, culture, background, world factors aside, dwelling on anyone one isn't with is wrong. It just made her miserable and angry. Sarah sat down the veritable little feast, wondering who the hell had sent it and why. Maybe a teeny, tiny part of her hoped it was Jareth or the goblins, but she quickly pushed those thoughts aside as childish, wishful thinking.

"Why would someone send me food? Should I worry that it's poisoned?" Sarah looked down at the food suspiciously before laughing. "Great, Jareth's paranoia is getting to me. Or is that the only way Fae can live so long?" she thought to herself. She took a bite of the omelette. "Wow, this is good...and must've cost a lot. Who would do that??" Sarah was starting to get really creeped out thinking about it. After all, she was a teenage girl and pretty susceptible to a lot of cons. She just couldn't help but see the good in people now. "Stupid Labyrinth. Changing my way of thinking," she pouted internally with a smile on her face. She could never actually believe that. The Labyrinth would aways be dear to her in her memories. Whether it was Jareth or simply the friends she had made... Sarah groaned. "Yep, obssessing over Jareth again. When is this going to end?"

* * *

"Welcome, King Jareth, Lord of the Labyrinth and Ruler of the Goblins," a deep, voice reverbeated throughout the hall as the Goblin King entered through the High King's double doors. The doors stretched almost to the top of the vaulted ceiling which rose up and up into rafters that were hidden by a constant illusion of sun and cloud. Jareth looked across Seelie Court's Great Hall with its glittering throng of Seelie Fae and made eye contact with the High King. He dropped down to his knee.

"Greetings, High King Oberon of the Seelie Court, Master of Illusion and Air," Jareth replied, greeting the High King formally. To do otherwise was risking death in Court. Jareth kind of wished someone else would do it, just to be a right and proper embodiment of insolence. No one would dare, though, except perhaps himself.

"It has been long since you last visited the Seelie Court, King Jareth. I'd begun to wonder if you'd turned Unseelie on us," the king said. His voice sounded joking, but it was only a flimsy cover to the implied threat in his voice. Oberon would not be pleased in the least if Jareth turned Unseelie, especially since the glittering throng viewed them as so distasteful.

"No. I'm here about a girl, actually. A human girl and Bloody Bones," Jareth said. The whole place was even more silent than it had been before. If anyone had so much moved a muscle the sound of it would have been heard. Now all in Court knew what Jareth was there for, but what it mean was a different matter entirely.

* * *

So this is the shortest chapter in the world. But if I don't update now, then I'll die and never update it again.


	18. Chapter 18

For Keeps  
Update

but not really.

.com/?zx=693d97643491dfc5

It will be continued there. yeah


	19. Chapter 19

For Keeps  
Update

but not really.

http: / / jillianisthekarmakameleon DOT blogspot DOT com/

It will be continued there. yeah

Because I'm poor and need views/ad clicks. BUT I'm really committed to this story again. I think you'll find a fascinating insight into the authors life as well.


	20. New Chapter Up!

For Keeps

ChaPeter 19 is up on my blog now!

http: / / jillianisthekarmakameleon DOT blogspot DOT com/

So go read it everyone! I also posted a link reviews!


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